I 


m  ma 


REEF 

POINT 

GARDENS 

LIBRARY 


The  Gift  of  Beatrix  Farrand 

to  the  General  Library 
University  of  California,  Berkeley 


What  To  See  In  America 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    •    BOSTON    •    CHICAGO    •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON    •    BOMBAY    •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD, 

TORONTO 


NIAGARA  FALLS 


What  To  See  In 
America 


By  Clifton  Johnson 

Author  of  American  Highways  and  Byways 

Series,  The  Picturesque  Hudson,  Among 

English    Hedgerows,  Along  French 

Byways,  Old-time  Schools,  etc. 


With  five  Hundred 
Illustrations 


Published  ly  The  Macmillan   Company 

New  York  MCMXXT 

London :     Macmillan  and  Co.,  Limited 


PRINTED    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA 


COPYRIGHT,  1919, 
BY  THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  November,  IQI9- 
Reissued  September,  1925. 
L.  A  N  O  SCAPE 
ARCH!  FECTURE 


Norfoooti  ^resa 

J.  S.  Cushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


a  a  M 


CONTENTS 


-4  condensed  list  of  attractions  —  scenic,  historic,  industrial,  legendary  and 

personal  —  which  make  the  different  sections  of  our 

country  interesting  to  the  sightseer. 

PAGE 

I.  MAINE.     The     "Popham    Colony,"    York,    "Lovewell's 
Fight "  at  Fryeburg,  Forests,  Mt.  Katahdin,  Lakes,  Indians  at 
Oldtown,  Hunting,  Fishing,  Mt.  Desert,  Portland,  Longfellow, 
Bowdoin    College,    Augusta,    Blueberries,    Aroostook    Potatoes, 
Quarries,  "Artemus  Ward,"  Jacob  Abbott,  Sarah  Orne  Jewett     .         1 

II.  NEW  HAMPSHIRE.     The  First  Settlements  at  Dover  and 
Rye,  John  Stark,  Dartmouth  College,    The  White  Mountains, 
Lake  Winnepesaukee,    Isles  of    Shoals,    Cornish,    Portsmouth, 
Horace  Greeley,  Daniel  Webster,   Concord  the   Capital,  Man 
chester,  Granite  Quarries  and  Mica  Mines 13 

III.  VERMONT.     The  "Indian  Road,"  Brattleboro,  Benning- 
ton,  Montpelier,  Lake  Champlain,  Burlington,  Cows,  Maple  Sugar, 

St.  Johnsbury,  Marble  Quarries,  Mt.  Mansfield   ....       24 

IV.  MASSACHUSETTS.     Plymouth    Rock,    Boston,    Benjamin 
Franklin,  Emerson,  Parkman,  Bunker  Hill,  Brookline,  Nantasket 
Beach,  Brook  Farm,  Salem,  Hawthorne,  Marblehead,  Cape  Ann, 
Gloucester,  Quincy,  Minot's  Ledge  Lighthouse,  Cape  Cod,  Nan- 
tucket,    Cambridge,     Harvard     College,     Lexington,     Concord, 
Whittier,  Worcester,  Springfield,  Bryant,  "Fighting  Joe  Hooker," 
Berkshire,  Greylock,  Hoosac  Tunnel,  "Josh  Billings  "          .         .       30 

V.  CONNECTICUT.     Windsor,  Saybrook,  Pequot  Hill,  Sachem's 
Head,  Tobacco,  Manufactures,  Old  Newgate  Prison,  New  Haven, 
The  Regicides,  Yale  University,  Bridgeport,  "Gen.  Tom  Thumb," 

vii 


viii  Contents 

PAGE 

New  London,  Oysters,  Hartford,  Noah  Webster,  Jonathan 
Edwards,  Harriet  Beeoher  Stowe,  John  Brown,  "Old  Put," 
Nathan  Hale,  Bear  Mountain 49 

VI.  RHODE  ISLAND.     Providence,  Roger  Williams,  Narragan- 
sett  Bay,  Manufactures,  Gen.  Nathanael  Greene,  Newport,  The 
"Old  Stone  Mill,"  Mt.  Hope,  King  Philip,  Block  Island,  The 
"Dancing  Mortar,"  Durfee  Hill 57 

VII.  NEW  YORK  CITY.     Manhattan   Island,  The  Statue  of 
Liberty,   The   Battery,    Bowling    Green,    Wall    Street,    Trinity 
Church,    St.    Paul's    Chapel,   Equitable    Building,   Washington 
Irving,    City  Hall,  Woolworth    Building,    Grace   Church,   The 
Bowery,  Railroad  Stations,  Washington  Square,  Fifth  Avenue, 
Flatiron  Building,    Metropolitan    Life   Tower,    \Valdorf-Astoria 
Hotel,  Public   Library,   St.    Patrick's   Cathedral,   The  "Great 
White  Way,"   Central  Park,   Riverside   Drive,  Columbia  Uni 
versity,  Jumel  Mansion,  Bronx  Park,  Hell  Gate,  Brooklyn  Bridge, 
Brooklyn,  Coney  Island         ........       63 

VIII.  NEW  YORK  STATE.     The  Palisades,  Tarrytown,  Stony 
Point,  The  Highlands,  West  Point,  Vassar  College,  The  Cats- 
kills,  Rip  Van   Winkle,  Storm  King,  Albany,  Mohawk   River, 
Shakers,  Saratoga,  Lake  George,  Lake  Champlain,  Ticonderoga, 
Ausable  Chasm,    The  Adirondacks,   Mt.  Marcy,   Schenectady, 
Cooperstown,    Cornell    University,    Taghanic    Fall,    Rochester, 
Chautauqua,    Buffalo,    Erie    Canal,    Niagara,    The    Thousand 
Islands,  Long  Island,  Walt  Whitman 81 

IX.  NEW  JERSEY.     First  Permanent  Settlement  at  Bergen 
Point,  Palisades,  The  Hamilton-Burr  Duel,  Newark,  Delaware 
Water  Gap,  High  Point,  Trenton,  J.  Fenimore  Cooper,  Princeton 
College,  Sandy  Hook,  Long   Branch,  Atlantic  City,  Cape  May, 
Lakewood      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .     105 

X.  PENNSYLVANIA.      Philadelphia,    Battle   of   Germantown, 
Railroads,  Valley  Forge,  Pottstown  "Ringing  Rocks,"  Lancaster 
Indian  Massacre,  Harrisburg,  "Blue  Juniata,"  Horseshoe  Curve, 
Blue   Knob,   Gettysburg,   Battle   of    the    Brandywine,    Robert 


Contents  ix 

PAGE 

Fulton,  Valley  of  Wyoming,  Coal,  Pittsburgh,  The  Johnstown 
Flood,  Oil-wells,  Grapes Ill 

XL   DELAWARE.     Centerville,     Lewes,     Wilmington,     New 
Castle,  Dover,  Great  Cypress  Swamp 128 

XII.  MARYLAND.     Kent  Island,  St.  Mary's,  Baltimore,  First 
Telegraph  Line,  Chesapeake  Bay,  Annapolis,  Great  Falls  of  the 
Potomac,    Barbara    Frietchie,    Battle   of    Antietam,    Backbone 
Mountain 132 

XIII.  THE  NATION'S  CAPITAL.     Pennsylvania  Avenue,  The 
British  Capture  the  City,  The  Capitol,  The  White  House,  The 
Washington    Monument,     Congressional     Library,    Bureau    of 
Engraving  and  Printing,  Museum  of  National  History,  Union 
Railway  Station,  Theater  in  Which  Lincoln  was  Shot    .         .         .     138 

XIV.  VIRGINIA.      Jamestown,     Pocahontas,     Williamsburg, 
Yorktown,    Hampton    Roads,    Old    Point    Comfort,    Fortress 
Monroe,  Great    Dismal    Swamp,    Richmond,    Petersburg,   Ap- 
pomattox  Court  House,  Fredericksburg,  Battle  of  the  Wilderness, 
Arlington,  Alexandria,  Mt.  Vernon,  Battle  of  Bull  Run,  Shenan- 
doah  Valley,  Caverns  of  Luray,  WToodrow  Wilson,  Natural  Bridge, 

Hot  Springs,  Mt.  Rogers,  Thomas  Jefferson          ....     145 

XV.  WEST     VIRGINIA.       Shepherdstown,     Harpers     Ferry, 
Charlestown,  Wheeling,  Spruce  Knob,  White  Sulphur  Springs, 
Moundsviile 158 

XVI.  NORTH    CAROLINA.     Roanoke   Island,   "Blackbeard," 
Charlotte,    Cotton    Mills,    Raleigh,    Pinehurst,    Great    Smoky 
Mountains,  Asheville,  Mt.  Mitchell,  Battle  of  Kings  Mountain, 
Daniel  Boone 162 

XVII.  SOUTH  CAROLINA.    Charleston,   An   Early   Railroad, 
Camden,  Battle  of   the  Cowpens,    Eutaw    Springs,    Columbia, 
Aiken,  Sassafras  Mountain 170 

XVIII.  GEORGIA.    Savannah,  Eli  Whitney  and  His  Cotton 
Gin,  Bonaventura   Cemetery,  Augusta,  Andersonville,  Atlanta, 
Sherman's  "March  to  the  Sea,"  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  Stone 
Mountain,  Brasstown  Bald 176 


x  Contents 

PAGE 

XIX.  FLORIDA.      Mt.     Pleasant,    Climate,    Pine     Forests, 
Palmettos,  Ponce  de  Leon,  Fernando  de  Soto,  St.  Augustine,  St. 
Johns  River,  Jacksonville,  Palatka,  The  Ocklawaha,  Shell  Mounds, 
Ormond,  New  Smyrna,  Indian  River,  Palm  Beach,  The  Sea-going 
Railway,  Key  West,  The  Dry  Tortugas,  Pensacola,  Tallahassee, 
The  "Wakulla  Volcano,"    Suwannee   River,    Lake   Okechobee, 
Oranges,  Tampa,  Everglades,  Seminole  Indians  ....     182 

XX.  ALABAMA.     Mobile,  War  with  the  Indians,  Montgomery, 
Tuskegee  and  Booker  Washington,  Birmingham,  Cheaha  Moun 
tain       204 

XXI.  TENNESSEE.       Davy    Crockett,     Nashville,     Andrew 
Jackson,  Memphis,  Fort  Donelson,  Battle  of  Shiloh,  Chattanooga, 
Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  Admiral   Farragut,  Mt. 
Guyot 209 

XXII.  KENTUCKY.       Daniel     Boone,     Harrodsburg,     The 
Moundbuilders,  Louisville,  Lexington,  Berea  College,  Big  Bone 
Lick,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Jefferson  Davis,  The  Mammoth  Cave, 

Big  Black  Mountain .215 

XXIII.  OHIO.       Moravian     Missions,     Marietta,     Mound- 
builders,  Cincinnati,   The  Battle  of  Fallen  Timber,  The  Ohio 
River,  Cleveland,  Sandusky,  Columbus,  Dayton,  Six  Ohio-born 
Presidents  of  the  United  States 222 

XXIV.  INDIANA.     Vincennes,  Indianapolis,  Battle  of  Tippe- 
canoe,  Gary,  The   Harmony  Society,  Wyandotte  Cave,  Carlos 
City,  James  Whitcomb  Riley 230 

XXV.  ILLINOIS.     Starved    Rock,    The    Black    Hawk    War, 
Springfield,    Cairo,   Alton,    Nauvoo    the  City  of    the  Mormon 
Saints,  The  Icarians,  Charles  Mound,  Rockford,  Chicago,  Zion 
City 236 

XXVI.  MICHIGAN.     Sault  Sainte  Marie,  Mackinac  Island, 
Lake  Huron,  Detroit,  Mt.  Clemens,  Ann  Arbor,  Lansing,  Lake 
Superior,  The  Pictured  Rocks,  Calumet  and  Hecla  Copper  Mine, 
Porcupine  Mountain  ......        .  .        .        .        •     247 


Contents  xi 

PAGE 

XXVII.  WISCONSIN.     Rib  Hill,  Mound-builders,  Green  Bay, 
Madison,  Black   Hawk,   Lake  Winnebago,    Devils  Lake,   Mil 
waukee,  The  Yerkes  Observatory 254 

XXVIII.  MINNESOTA.     Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  Fort  Snelling, 
St.  Paul,  Minneapolis,  Lake  Minnetonka,  Falls  of  Minnehaha, 
The  Source  of  the  Mississippi,  The  Lake  Park  Region,  Fishing, 
Hunting,    and  Canoeing,  Grand   Marais,   Lake  of   the  Woods, 
Duluth,  Iron  Mines,  Mesabi  Range,  Red  River  Valley,  St.  Croix 
River,  Lake  Pepin 260 

XXIX.  IOWA.     Pringhar,    Mt.    McGregor,    Dubuque,    Des 
Moines,  Spirit  Lake,  Council  Bluffs,  Amana  Inspirationists         .     272 

XXX.  MISSOURI.     The  Missouri  River,  St.  Genevieve,  St. 
Louis,  Jefferson  City,    Iron  Mountain,  Taum  Sauk  Mountain, 
"Mark  Twain,"  Kansas  City 276 

XXXI.  ARKANSAS.      Blue   Mountain,    The     Ozarks,     The 
Arkansas  River,  Little  Rock,  Hot  Springs  Reservation       .         .281 

XXXII.  LOUISIANA.     Mississippi    River,     De    Soto,    New 
Orleans,  Barataria  Bay,  Grand  Isle  Pirates,  Lost  Island,  Eads 
Jetties,  Baton  Rouge,  Audubon  the  Naturalist,  Sulphur       .         .     285 

XXXIII.  MISSISSIPPI.     Biloxi,  Natchez,  Vicksburg,  Jackson, 
Pass  Christian,  Holly  Springs 296 

XXXIV.  TEXAS.     Size  and  Climate,  San  Antonio,  The  Alamo, 
Houston,  Austin,  El  Paso,  El  Capitan,  The  Rio  Grande,  Eagle 
Pass,  Brownsville,  Corpus  Christi,  La  Salle,  Galveston,  Beaumont 
Oil   Region,    Rice,  Dallas,    Fort  Worth,    The   Panhandle,  The 
Staked  Plain,  Cattle 300 

XXXV.  OKLAHOMA.     Indians,  "Boomers,"  Oklahoma  City, 
Shawnee,  Platt  National  Park 312 

XXXVI.  KANSAS.     Great  Plains,  Fort  Leaven  worth,  Atchi- 
son,    Lawrence,    Osawatomie,    Kansas    City,    Topeka,    Dodge, 
Buffalo .         .         .         .         .         .315 

XXXVII.  NEBRASKA.     Omaha,  Mormons,  Union  Pacific  Rail 
road,  Overland  Trail,  "Hell  on  Wheels,"  Lincoln,  Columbus       .     321 


xii  Contents 

PAGE 

XXXVIII.  SOUTH  DAKOTA.     Size,  Crops   and  Cattle,  Fort 
Pierre,  Sioux  Falls,  Wind   Cave  National  Park,   Hot  Springs, 
Bad  Lands,  Blizzards,  Black  Hills,  Harney  Peak,  Gold,  Dead- 
wood,  Wild  Bill,  The  Homestake  Mine,  Spearfish  Canyon   .         .     326 

XXXIX.  NORTH  DAKOTA.     Pembina,  The  Red  River  of  the 
North,  Bonanza  Farms,  "  Jimtown,"  Buffalo,  Sully's  Hill  National 
Park,  Fargo,  Bismarck,  Pyramid  Park,  Summit  .         .         .         .331 

XL.  MONTANA.  Granite  Peak,  Rocky  Mountains,  Fort 
Benton,  Helena,  Butte,  Gallatin  Valley,  Dry  Farming,  The 
Missouri  River  and  Its  Falls,  Range  Cattle  and  Sheep,  Bitter 
Root  National  Forest,  Glacier  National  Park,  Blackfeet  Indian 
Reservation,  Custer's  Last  Fight 335 

XLI.  IDAHO.  Hyndman  Peak,  Sawtooth  Mountains,  Lewis 
and  Clark  Expedition,  Mines  of  the  Coeur  d'Alene,  Boise,  Arrow- 
rock  Dam,  Soda  Springs,  St.  Anthony,  Seven  Devils  Mountains, 
Shoshone  Falls,  The  Snake  River  Lava  Plains,  Sagebrush  .  .  356 

XLII.  WYOMING.  Fort  Laramie,  "Bill"  Nye,  Gold,  Chey 
enne,  Devil's  Tower,  Coal,  Cattle  and  Sheep  Industry,  Gannet 
Peak,  Yellowstone  National  Park 363 

XLIII.  UTAH.  Great  Salt  Lake,  Mormons,  Salt  Lake  City, 
Salduro,  The  Devil's  Slide,  First  Transcontinental  Railway, 
Midway  Hot  Pots,  Kings  Peak,  Mountain  Meadows  Massacre, 
Little  Zion,  Natural  Bridges 386 

XLIV.  COLORADO.  The  Continental  Divide,  Mt.  Elbert, 
Conejos,  Denver,  "Potato  Clark,"  Sand  Creek  Massacre  of 
Indians,  Boulder  Canyon,  Silver  Plume,  Ladder  to  Cloudland, 
Rocky  Mountain  National  Park,  National  Forests,  Palmer  Lake, 
Pikes  Peak,  Manitou,  Colorado  Springs,  Garden  of  the  Gods, 
Cripple  Creek,  Greeley,  Royal  Gorge,  Leadville,  Mountain  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  Glenwbod  Springs,  Mesa  Verde  National  Park,  Kit 
Carson 397 

XLV.  NEW  MEXICO.  Climate,  Santa  Fe,  Cliff-dwellers, 
Sanctuario  and  Its  Miracles,  North  Truchas  Peak,  Laos,  Las 
Vegas,  Albuquerque,  Laguna,  Acoma,  The  Enchanted  Mesa,  Zuni  426 


Contents  xiii 

PAGE 

XLVI.  ARIZONA.  Tucson,  Yuma,  Desert  Animals,  Irrigation, 
Phoenix,  The  Roosevelt  Dam,  The  Apache  Trail,  Superstition 
Mountains,  The  Cactus  and  Other  Desert  Growths,  Casa  Grande 
Ruin,  Petrified  Forests,  The  Painted  Desert,  The  Sky  Cities  of 
the  Hopi  Indians,  Navajo  Reservation,  Flagstaff,  Lowell  Obser 
vatory,  San  Francisco  Mountains,  Crater  Mound,  Bill  Williams 
Mountain,  Grand  Canyon 438 

XLVII.  CALIFORNIA.  Size,  Climate,  National  Forests,  San 
Diego,  Missions,  San  Francisco,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  Mt. 
Tamalpais,  Sonoma  County  Geysers,  Mt.  Shasta,  Lassen  Volcano, 
Oakland,  Sacramento,  Discovery  of  Gold,  Stanford  University, 
San  Jose,  Lick  Observatory,  Santa  Cruz,  Monterey,  The  Pin 
nacles,  Paso  Robles,  Santa  Barbara,  The  San  Joaquin  Valley, 
Yosemite  National  Park,  Mariposa  Grove,  Sequoia  National 
Park,  Kings  River  Canyon,  Mt.  Whitney,  Death  Valley,  San 
Bernadino  County,  Los  Angeles,  Pasadena,  Riverside,  Oranges, 
Catalina  Island,  Capistrano,  Mission  of  San  Luis  Rey,  Mesa 
Grande  Indians,  Imperial  Valley 456 

XLVIII.  NEVADA.  Irrigation,  Mines,  Virginia  City, 
Tonopah,  Goldfield,  Bullfrog,  Carson,  Reno,  Lake  Tahoe,  East 
Peak 495 

XLIX.  OREGON.  Astoria,  Salmon  Fisheries,  Columbia  River, 
Willamette  Valley,  Portland,  Salem,  Multnomah  Falls,  Columbia 
Cascades,  Hood  River  Apples,  Mt.  Hood,  The  Dalles,  Deschutes 
Canyon,  Pendleton  Round-up,  Hot  Lake,  Hunting  and  Fishing, 
Josephine  County  Caves,  Rogue  River,  Crater  Lake  .  .  .501 

L.  WASHINGTON.  Vancouver,  Walla  Walla,  Whitman's  Ride, 
Spokane,  The  "Apple  Way,"  The  Big  Bend  Wheat  Region, 
Yakima  Valley,  Puget  Sound,  Olympia,  Seattle,  Snoqualmie 
Falls,  Tacoma,  Mt.  Rainier,  Forests,  Lake  Chelan,  Mt.  Baker, 
Yachting,  Olympic  Mountains,  Wilderness  Game,  Grays  Harbor, 
Whales,  North  Beach,  Weather 519 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

In  this  compact,  single  volume,  with  its  500  illustrations, 
each  state  in  the  Union  has  a  chapter,  and  each  of  the  cities 
of  New  York  and  Washington  has  an  additional  chapter. 
The  book  is  concerned  with  the  human  interest  of  our  coun 
try  in  nature,  history,  industry,  literature,  legend,  and 
biography.  It  is  intended  for  travelers  who  visit  the  places 
of  interest  in  person,  and  also  for  those  other  travelers 
whom  chance  or  necessity  keeps  at  home,  but  who  travel 
far  and  wide  on  the  wings  of  fancy. 

The  information  is  much  concentrated,  but  not  to  the 
extent  of  sacrificing  readableness.  Under  each  state  is 
included  such  things  as  the  first  settlement,  the  capital, 
the  largest  city,  the  highest  point,  and  facts  of  general 
interest  concerning  its  past  and  present  that  add  to  the 
traveler's  zest  in  visiting  it.  My  own  wanderings  have 
taken  me  to  every  state  in  the  Union,  and  have  furnished 
much  of  value  in  preparing  the  book,  but  I  have  gathered 
additional  material  from  many  sources. 

The  photographs  used  for  illustrations  are  in  part  those 
I  made  on  my  travels,  and  in  part  those  of  others.  Associ 
ations  interested  in  stimulating  vacation  travel  have  helped 
in  supplying  photographs;  so  have  railroad  companies  and 
public  libraries  and  individuals;  but,  most  of  all,  I  am  in 
debted  to  the  National  Park  Service  and  Forest  Service  and 
other  departments  at  Washington.  I  doubt  if  anything  like 
so  large  and  charming  and  characteristic  a  collection  of 
American  scenes  has  ever  before  been  gotten  together  in  a 
single  book. 

CLIFTON  JOHNSON. 

HADLEY,  MASS. 

xv 


EACH   or  THE   OTHER  STATES  WII.L  BE   FOUND  IN  A  MAP   THAT   is   IN 

OR  NEAR  THE  CHAPTER  DEVOTED  TO  THE  STATE 


IN  THE  HEAKT  or  THE  MAINE  WOODS 


Maine 

Maine  is  called  the  "Pine  Tree  State,"  and,  though  the  tall 
pines  that  thrust  up  above  the  other  trees  of  the  woodlands 
have  mostly  been  cut,  the  region  is  one  where  great  areas  are 
still  covered  with  forest,  to  which  hosts  of  people  resort  each 
year  to  enjoy  the  wilderness.  Maine  is  also  called  the 
B  1 


2  What  to  See  in  America 

"State  with  100  Harbors,"  a  reference  to  its  picturesque 
coast  broken  by  many  inlets  and  bordered  by  numerous  is 
lands.  It  is  nearer  Europe  than  any  other  section  of  our 
country,  and  was  early  visited  by  explorers  and  fishermen 
from  across  the  Atlantic. 

The  first  attempt  to  found  a  settlement  was  made  in 
1607,  when,  toward  the  end  of  August,  the  "Popham  Colony" 
established  itself  on  the  peninsula  west  of  the  Kennebec, 
where  that  river  joins  the  sea.  By  the  time  winter  set  in 
with  its  sleet  and  snow  the  colonists  had  finished  a  fort,  a 
storehouse,  and  a  number  of  dwellings.  But  the  storehouse 
burned  with  all  their  provisions,  and  they  were  obliged  to 
live  on  fish  and  such  game  as  they  could  shoot,  and  on  dog 
meat.  Their  cabins  could  not  keep  out  the  searching  winds 
and  biting  frost.  Many  were  sick,  and  their  leader,  George 
Popham,  died.  In  the  spring  a  ship  came  with  supplies, 
but  the  settlers  declared  there  was  no  use  of  Englishmen's 
trying  to  live  in  such  a  cold  country,  and  they  all  either 
returned  to  England,  or  went  in  a  little  vessel  they  had  built 
to  Jamestown,  Virginia. 

Capt.  John  Smith,  who  came  across  the  ocean  with  two 
ships  in  1614,  and  sailed  along  the  coast  from  the  Penob- 
scot  River  to  Cape  Cod,  gave  New  England  its  name.  He 
did  some  exploring  inland,  hoping  to  discover  gold  and 
copper  mines.  No  mines  were  found,  but  he  was  able 
to  sail  for  England  presently  with  a  valuable  cargo  of  fish 
and  furs. 

Maine's  first  permanent  settlement  was  made  in  1624  by 
emigrants  from  Plymouth  Colony  at  what  is  now  York, 
but  which  they  gave  the  local  Indian  name  of  Agamen- 
ticus.  This  was  in  the  tract  of  country  of  which  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  was  made  proprietary  lord  a  few  years  later. 
His  territory  was  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Kennebec 
and  on  the  west  by  the  Piscataqua,  and  extended  as  far 


Maine 


north  as  Lake  Umbagog.     It  was  named  Maine  in  honor 

of  the  English  queen,   who  came  from  France,  where  her 

estate  was  in  the  province  of  Mayne.     Gorges  selected  the 

plantation      of 

Agamenticus    for 

his    capital,    and 

made    it   a    city, 

naming  it  for  him 
self,  Gorgiana.    It 

comprised  twenty- 
one  square  miles, 

had      a      mayor, 

aldermen,   and 

councilmen ;    and 

there  were  police- 

men,      each       of 

whom  carried   a    white  rod.      Yet  Gorgiana  never  had  as 

many  as  three  hundred  inhabitants. 

Maine  developed  peacefully  for  about  fifty  years,  at  the 

end  of  which  time  it  had  five  or  six  thousand  inhabitants 

distributed  in  thirteen 
thriving  settlements. 
Then  came  the  Indian 
wars,  and  for  nearly  a 
century  the  settlers  were 
in  constant  terror  of  sav 
age  invaders.  The  trou 
ble  began  on  the  4th  of 

Photo  by  Harold  Bavnes     August,       1676,     when      a 
REYNARD  „    T     ,.  , 

party  or   Indians,  whose 

leader  was  "Simon,  the  Yankee-killer,"  invaded  the  home 
of  Anthony  Brackett  at  Back  Cove  in  what  is  now  Portland. 
They  seized  and  bound  the  entire  household,  which  con 
sisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brackett,  their  five  children,  and  a 


What  to  See  in  America 


Kalkoff  Co.  N.  Y. 
BLOCK  HOUSE  AT  FORT  KENT 


negro  man-servant. 
Afterward  they 
went  to  neighbor 
ing  homes,  killed  or 
captured  thirty-four 
persons,  and  set  the 
buildings  on  fire. 
The  Brackett  fam 
ily  continued  in 
captivity  until  No 
vember,  at  which 
time  their  captors 

came  in  their  wanderings  to  the  north  side  of  Casco  Bay. 
Mrs.  Brackett  found  an  old  birch  canoe  on  the  beach.  She 
repaired  it,  and  the  family  and  the  negro  man  secretly  got 
into  it  and  paddled  across  the  bay  to  Black  Point.  A  ves 
sel  bound  for  the  Piscataqua  chanced  to  be  there,  and  on 
that  they  made  good  their  escape. 

Of  all  the  combats  in  Maine  between  the  whites  and  In 
dians  the  best  known  was  "Lovewell's  Fight."  In  the  spring 
of  1725  Captain  Lovewell  and  forty-six  volunteers  started 
from  Dunstable,  Massachusetts,  to  hunt  Indians  about  the 
headwaters  of  the  Saco.  They  did  this  partly  because  the  In 
dians  were  a  menace  to  the  settlements,  and  partly  to  secure 
the  liberal  bounty  which  had  been  promised  for  every  Indian 
scalp.  On  the  night  of  Friday,  May  7th,  they  encamped 
beside  what  is  now  known  as  Lovewell's  Pond  in  Fryeburg, 
Maine,  only  two  miles  from  Pigwacket,  the  principal  village 
of  the  Indians  of  that  region.  Early  the  next  morning  they 
killed  an  Indian,  and  not  long  afterward  were  attacked  by 
three  times  their  number,  led  by  Paugus,  chief  of  the  tribe. 
The  fight  continued  until  dusk,  when  the  Indians  withdrew. 
About  midnight  the  moon  rose,  and  the  English  began  a 
retreat.  Only  nine  were  uninjured.  Some  of  them  died  on 


Maine  5 

the  way  to  the  settlements,  and  those  who  finally  reached 
home  arrived  half  starved. 

Nearly  all  of  northern  Maine  is  woodland,  and  in  this 
woodland  both  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  might  be 
placed  and  lost  to  the  world  and  to  each  other.  From  the 
summit  of  Mt.  Katahdin,  the  state's  loftiest  height,  which 
rises  5200  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  only  trees  are  in 
sight  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  The  most  numerous  of 
the  valuable  forest  trees  now  are  spruce.  An  immense 
amount  of  timber  comes  from  the  Maine  wilderness  every 
year.  Spruce  is  very  largely  used  for  paper  as  well  as  for 
lumber.  The  first  wood  pulp  mill  began  operations  in 
1870.  The  popular  nickname  of  the  people  of  the  state  is 
"Foxes,"  because  of  the  abundance  of  these  creatures,  and 
because  so  manv  of  the  inhabitants  live  or  work  in  the  woods. 


MT.  KATAHDIN  FROM  THE  WEST  BRANCH  OF  THE  PENOBSCOT 

Of  all  the  forest  trees  none  was  put  to  more  uses  by  the 
Indians  and  pioneer  settlers  than  the  paper  birch.     The 


6  What  to  See  in  America 

woodsman  with  his  ax  could  obtain  from  it  tent,  canoe,  cups, 
plates,  tablecloths,  paper  to  write  on,  torches,  and  kindlings 
and  other  fuel.  A  piece  of  bark  two  feet  square  could  be 
made  into  a  vessel  for  catching  maple  sap  by  folding  it 
into  a  straight-sided  pan,  and  bending  the  corners  around 
and  fastening  them  in  place  with  wooden  pins. 

There  are  many  mills  along  the  little  streams  that  come 
from  the  wooded  uplands  in  various  parts  of  the  state. 
These  mills  convert  both  hard  and  soft  wood  into  such 
articles  as  furniture,  sleds,  tool  handles,  toys,  clothespins, 
and  toothpicks.  Much  fine  white  birch  wood  grows  in  some 
sections,  and  thousands  of  cords  of  it  are  used  yearly  for 
spools. 

The  Maine  woods  suffer  seriously  during  the  dry  summer 
weather  from  fires.  There  may  be  many  fires  burning  at 
the  same  time,  and  the  air  will  be  hazy  with  smoke  over 
great  stretches  of  country. 

Maine  contains  more  than  1800  lakes  and  ponds.  All 
these,  together  with  the  rivers,  have  a  surface  amounting  to 
fully  one  tenth  of  the  land  area  of  the  state.  The  largest 
lake  is  Moosehead,  forty  miles  long  and  four  to  twelve 
broad.  From  its  borders  Mt.  Kineo  rises  800  feet  above 
the  lake  level.  The  mountain  faces  the  water  in  so  perpen 
dicular  a  precipice  that  a  person  could  jump  into  the  lake 
from  its  top.  This  is  the  largest  mass  of  hornstone  known 
in  the  world,  and  the  New  England  Indians  got  from  it 
much  of  the  flint  they  used  for  their  arrow-heads. 

The  solitudes  around  Moosehead  are  frequented  by  big 
game,  and  there  is  an  abundance  of  fish  and  water-fowl. 
Only  a  few  faint  trails  wind  through  the  forest,  and  the 
rivers  and  lakes  are  the  chief  thoroughfares.  Even  the 
Indians  are  not  altogether  lacking,  for  some  members  of  the 
once  powerful  Penobscot  tribe  may  still  be  encountered  in 
the  woods  hunting  and  fishing,  or  acting  as  guides.  The  four 


Maine 


THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  ON  THE  MAINE  COAST 


hundred  persons 

who  constitute 

this   tribe   have 

permanent 

dwellings  on  the 

outskirts  of  the 

wilderness     at 

Oldtown,  where 

they  occupy  an 

island    in    the 

river. 

The  levels  of 

many     of     the 

wilderness  lakes  vary  only  a  few  feet,  and  boatmen,  by  short 

portages,  or  by  none  at  all,  pass  easily  from  one  to  another. 

Hunters,  fishermen,  and  other  pleasure-seekers  often  make 

long  trips  on  the  streams  and  lakes  for  days  and  weeks  at 

a  time.     A  guide  and  two  persons  can  travel  comfortably 

in  a  canoe  and  carry  a  tent,  food,  and  the  necessary  camp 

utensils.  In  the  fall 
shooting  season  thou 
sands  of  sportsmen 
come  to  the  wild 
lands  from  the  cities 
near  and  far. 

Scarcely  less  well 
known  than  Moose- 
head  Lake  are  the 
Rangeley  Lakes, 

nestling  among  forested  hills  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 

state.     They  are  called  a  fisherman's  paradise.     There  are 

five  of  them,  all  connected  by  navigable  waterways,  and 

small  steamers  ply  on  them  and  call  at  the  various  camps. 
The  entire  Maine  coast  from  Portland  to  New  Brunswick 


MOOSEHEAD  LAKE  AND  SQUAW  MOUNTAIN 


What  to  See  in  America 


is  a  labyrinth  of  headlands,  bays,  and  isles.  In  the  opposite 
direction  it  is  indented  comparatively  little,  and  here  are 
the  sandy  beaches  of  Old  Orchard,  York,  and  other  well- 
known  summer  resorts.  Maine's  shore  fisheries  are  im 
portant,  and  more  than  seventy  factories  are  engaged  in 
canning  lobsters,  clams,  and  small  herring.  Lobsters  are 
caught  in  cage-like  traps  called  lobster  pots.  Men  and  boys 
dig  the  clams  on  the  mud  flats  at  low  tide.  In  Europe  vari 
ous  little  fishes  have  long  been  canned  as  sardines,  and  since 
1875  this  industry  has  developed  on  the  coast  of  Maine. 
The  herring  used  for  the  purpose  are  caught  in  weirs. 

Small  steamers  thread 
the  channels  among  the 
islands  and  bring  a  mul 
titude  of  visitors  every 
year.  The  largest  and 
most  beautiful  of  the 
islands  is  Mt.  Desert, 
which  is  about  fourteen 
miles  long  and  seven 
broad.  There  are  thir 
teen  mountains  on  it, 
and  an  equal  number  of 
lakes  nestle  in  the  hol 
lows  and  wild  ravines. 
Champlain,  the  great 
French  explorer,  discov 
ered  it  in  1604.  He  ob 
served  that  the  summits 
of  its  heights  were  all 
bare  and  rocky  and  therefore  called  it  "The  Isle  of  Desert 
Mountains." 

The  French  started  a  settlement  on  Mt.  Desert  in  1613. 
But  presently  an  armed  English  ship  from  Virginia  appeared 


PORTLAND  HEAD  LIGHTHOUSE 


Maine  9 

and  saluted  them  with  a  broadside  of  guns.  The  settle 
ment  was  destroyed,  and  the  Frenchmen  were  taken  away. 
The  first  white  man  to  establish  a  permanent  home  on  the 
island  was  Abraham  Somes  of  Gloucester.  He  came  thither 
in  his  fishing  boat  in  1761,  and  cut  a  load  of  barrel  staves 


OLD  ORCHARD  BEACH 

which  he  carried  back.  The  next  year  he  voyaged  to  the 
island  with  his  wife  and  children,  and  built  a  log  house  at 
the  head  of  the  sound  that  bears  his  name.  About  I860  the 
island  began  to  win  the  favor  of  wandering  artists  and  parties 
of  college  students  on  a  vacation,  and  within  twenty  years 
Bar  Harbor  developed  from  a  primitive  village  of  farmers 
and  fishermen  into  one  of  the  most  popular  resorts  on  the 
New  England  coast. 

Portland,  which  is  by  far  the  largest  place  in  the  state, 
was  completely  destroyed  by  the  Indians  in  1676  and  again 
in  1690.  On  the  latter  occasion  no  one  was  left  to  bury 
the  dead.  More  than  two  years  afterward  a  ship  that  was 
voyaging  along  the  coast  stopped  there,  and  the  crew  gathered 
the  bleached  bones  and  buried  them.  Early  in  the  Revolu 
tionary  War  four  British  vessels  entered  the  harbor  and 


10 


What  to  See  in  America 


LOBSTER  LAKE 


showered  cannon 
balls,  bombs,  and 
grapeshot  on  the 
defenseless  vil 
lage.  Most  of  the 
people  fled  for 
their  lives,  and 
many  of  them 
saved  only  what 
they  bore  away 
on  their  backs. 
Armed  parties 
from  the  ships  landed  and  applied  torches  to  the  buildings 
so  that  the  greater  part  of  the  town  was  destroyed. 

The  first  steamboat  used  on  the  coast  was  made  by  a 
Portland  captain  in  1822.  He  placed  an  old  engine  on  a  flat- 
bottomed  boat,  and  rigged  up  some  paddle  wheels  so  that 
he  was  able  to  run  the  craft  to  the  islands  of  Casco  Bay  and 
some  of  the  adjacent  mainland  towns.  He  called  his  vessel 
the  Kennebec,  but  the  people  called  it  the  Horned  Hog. 

On  July  4,  1866,  a  fire-cracker  carelessly  thrown  into  a 
builder's  shop  started  a  conflagration  which  raged  for  fifteen 
hours,  when  a  change  of  wind  enabled  Portland's  firemen  and 
engines,  with  the  aid  of  those  that  had  come  from  other 
places,  to  control  the  flames.  The  fire  swept  over  200  acres 
in  the  center  of  the  city,  burned  1800  buildings,  rendered 
6000  persons  homeless,  and  caused  a  property  loss  of 
$15,000,000. 

Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  was  born  in  a  three-story 
frame  house  near  the  harbor,  in  1807.  His  grandfather 
erected  in  1785  the  first  house  in  Portland  to  be  built  entirely 
of  brick,  and  to  this  the  poet  was  brought  as  an  infant.  It 
was  his  home  until  his  marriage.  Until  the  end  of  his  life 
he  stayed  there  whenever  he  visited  the  scenes  of  his  youth, 


Maine 


11 


and  many  of  his  best  poems  were  written  in  it.  He  grad 
uated  at  Bowdoin  College  in  the  manufacturing  city  of 
Brunswick,  and  was  for  some  years  a  Bowdoin  professor. 
Hawthorne  was  another  famous  Bowdoin  collegian.  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  was  living  at  Brunswick  \vhen  she  wrote 
"Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  Her  husband  was  at  that  time  an 
instructor  in  the  college. 

Bath  is  the  shipbuilding  city  of  Maine.  Bangor  on  the 
Penobscot  is  the  most  notable  lumber  center  in  New  England. 
Augusta,  the  capital  of  the  state,  is  the  largest  city  on  the 
Kennebec. 

Farming  is  the  leading  industry  in  most  of  the  country 
towns  south  of  the  forest  region.  Immense  quantities  of 
apples,  squashes,  blueberries,  and  sweet  corn  are  canned 
and  shipped  to  the  cities.  Blueberries  grow  wild  in  all 
parts  of  the  state,  but  are  particularly  plentiful  in  several 


BAR  HARBOR 


rocky  townships  of  Washington  County  which  have  been 
largely  swept  by  fire.  The  harvest  continues  for  about  six 
weeks,  and  most  of  the  hundreds  of  pickers  camp  where 


12  What  to  See  in  America 

the  berries  grow.  The  picking  is  done  chiefly  by  women 
and  children. 

In  the  northeastern  part  of  the  state  is  a  very  rich  new 
agricultural  country.  Potatoes  are  the  principal  farm 
product  there,  particularly  in  the  great  county  of  Aroostook, 
which  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  entire  state  of  Massachusetts. 
They  are  planted,  cultivated,  and  dug  by  machines. 

One  of  the  valuable  products  of  Maine  is  stone.  There 
are  important  quarries  at  various  places  along  the  coast 
where  granite  is  blasted  out,  cut  into  such  shapes  and  sizes 
as  are  desired,  and  shipped  to  different  sections  of  the  coun 
try.  In  and  around  Rockland  are  inexhaustible  limestone 
beds  that  have  been  worked  for  two  centuries.  The  lime 
produced  in  Maine  exceeds  the  output  of  any  other  state. 

Among  Maine's  famous  men  perhaps  none  is  more  widely 
known  than  the  humorist,  Charles  Farrar  Browne,  or 
"Artemus  Ward,"  as  he  called  himself.  He  was  born  in 
1834  in  the  little  village  of  Waterford,  some  fifty  miles  north 
of  Portland,  and  there  is  his  grave.  Another  notable  Maine 
writer  was  Jacob  Abbott,  who  was  born  in  1803  at  Hallo  well 
on  the  Kennebec.  He  was  one  of  five  brothers,  all  of  whom 
became  preachers  and  teachers,  and,  with  a  single  exception, 
authors.  He  was  the  most  popular  American  writer  for 
children  of  his  time.  His  Hollo  Books  were  particularly 
famous.  In  later  life  he  lived  at  Farmington,  where  he  had 
a  place  which  he  called  "Fewacres"  on  high  ground  over 
looking  a  river  winding  through  one  of  the  most  fertile 
and  tranquil  valleys  in  New  England.  A  third  Maine 
writer  of  exceptional  merit  was  Sarah  Orne  Jew^ett,  whose 
birthplace  was  South  Berwick. 


MT.  WASHINGTON 
II 

New  Hampshire 

New  Hampshire  got  its  name  from  a  county  in  southern 
England,  which  was  the  home  of  an  English  merchant  and 
shipmaster  to  whom  the  king  granted  a  tract  of  land  north 
of  Massachusetts.  The  first  settlements  were  made  in  1623 
at  Dover,  a  few  miles  up  the  Piscataqua,  and  Rye  on  the 
coast.  A  scattered  settlement  established  somewhat  later 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  received  the  odd  name  of  Straw 
berry  Bank. 

For  a  long  time  the  leading  man  of  the  province  was 
Richard  Waldron  of  Dover.  He  was  largely  engaged  in 
trading  with  the  Indians,  and,  though  a  thorough  Puritan  in 
his  religion,  cheated  them  at  every  opportunity.  But  what 
roused  the  Indians  most  was  his  capture  of  several  hundred 
of  them  on  the  borders  of  the  settlement  through  a  pretense 
that  the  whites  would  meet  them  and  engage  in  a  friendly 

13 


14  What  to  See  in  America 

sham  fight.  When  he  ordered  a  grand  round  of  musketry 
the  Indians  promptly  discharged  their  guns,  but  the  English 
withheld  their  fire  and  took  into  custody  the  entire  body  of 
savages  without  bloodshed.  This  treachery  was  never 
forgiven.  There  were  five  garrison  houses  in  the  village 
which  had  grown  up  near  Major  Waldron's  grist  and  saw 
mill  at  the  Cocheco  Falls,  and  to  these  the  families  in  the  un 
protected  houses  retired  at  night,  but  no  watch  was  kept. 
In  the  summer  of  1688  many  of  the  local  Indians  resorted 
to  Dover  ostensibly  to  trade,  and  two  squaws  applied  at 
each  of  the  garrison  houses  for  lodging.  Such  requests  were 
not  unusual,  and  only  at  one  of  the  fortified  dwellings  was 
admittance  refused.  When  the  whites  were  asleep  and  all  was 
quiet,  the  squaw  visitors  opened  the  doors,  and  in  rushed 
the  waiting  Indian  warriors.  Major  Waldron,  though  eighty 
years  old,  fought  valiantly,  but  was  finally  killed.  Twenty- 
two  other  persons  were  slain,  and  twenty-nine  captured. 

Gen.  John  Stark,  the  hero  of  Bennington,  was  a  New 
Hampshire  man.  He  was  born  in  1728  at  Londonderry, 
where  his  father  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  on  the  New 
England  frontier  of  that  period.  The  family  depended  in 
part  for  their  living  on  hunting  and  trapping,  and  once, 
when  John  and  an  older  brother  and  two  comrades  went  in  a 
canoe  on  an  excursion  after  furs  to  Baker's  River  in  what  is 
now  Rumney  in  the  central  part  of  the  state,  Indians 
attacked  them.  Only  the  older  Stark  escaped.  John  and 
one  other  were  captured,  and  the  fourth  member  of  the  party 
was  killed.  The  Indians  took  their  two  captives  up  beyond 
Lake  Memphremagog  to  their  tribal  home  in  Canada.  There 
the  captives  were  presently  compelled  to  run  the  gantlet. 
The  young  warriors,  each  armed  with  a  rod,  ranged  them 
selves  in  two  lines  a  few  feet  apart  ready  to  strike  the  captives 
as  they  ran  between  the  lines.  Stark,  who  was  athletic 
and  adroit,  had  no  sooner  started  than  he  snatched  a  rod 


New  Hampshire 


from  the  nearest  Indian,  and  as  he  ran  down  the  lines  struck 

right  and   left,   scattering  the    savages   before    him.     This 

exploit   gained  favor  for   him 

among  the  older  Indians,  and 

he  was  later  adopted  into  the 

tribe.     After    a    captivity    of 

several    months    he    and    his 

companion  were  redeemed.  He 

often  fought  the  savages  in  the 

service   of   his   state   as   time 

went  on,  and  he  did  his  part 

valiantly  in  various  battles  of 

the    Revolution.     Stark    died 

when  ninety-four  years  old  at 

his  home  in  Manchester,  and 

lies    buried     there    on    rising 

ground     that     overlooks     the 

Merrimac. 

New  Hampshire's  leading  educational  institution  is  Dart 
mouth  College,  in  Hanover,  on  the  Connecticut  River.  It 
originated  in  a  plan  for  educating  Indian  youths  to  be  mis 
sionaries.  College  work  began  in  1770  in  a  clearing  amid  a 

forest  of  lofty  pines 
where  two  or  three 
small  log  huts  had 
been  built. 

In  the  northern 
part  of  the  state  are 
the  White  Moun 
tains,  which  include 
no  less  than  twenty 
bold  peaks,  and 
abound  in  wild  val- 

MT.  WASHINGTON  FROM  PINKHAM  NOTCH         leys,      deep      gorges, 


THE  OLD  MAN  OF  THE  MOUN 
TAIN 


16 


What  to  See  in  America 


lakes,  and  cascades. 
The  name  refers  to 
the  snow  which 
whitens  the  bare 
higher  summits  for  so 
much  of  the  year.  The 
first  settler  among  the 
mountains  was  a 
hunter  who  established 
himself  there  in  1792. 
There  were  no  hotels 
in  the  region  until 
about  I860,  but  after 
that  development  as 
a  summer  resort  was 
rapid,  and  it  became 
known  as  "The  Swit 
zerland  of  America." 
Another  descriptive 
title  is  "The  Roof  of 
New  England."  Its 

scattered  towns  and  villages  are  almost  wholly  devoted  to  car 
ing  for  warm  weather  visitors.  One  of  the  towns  is  Bethle 
hem,  which  is  higher  up  and  has  more  hotels  than  any  other 
town  in  New  England.  It  lies  on  a  breezy  upland  slope  with 
a  vast  panorama  of  mountain  ranges  rimming  most  of  the 
horizon.  The  permanent  inhabitants  number  scarcely 
more  than  a  thousand,  but  the  summer  population  is  a 
multitude. 

Mt.  Washington,  the  monarch  of  all  New  England  heights, 
rises  6293  feet  above  sea  level.  As  you  ascend  it  the 
trees  steadily  diminish  in  height  until  at  4000  feet  they  are 
only  scraggly  shrubs,  gray  with  age  and  shaggy  moss.  Still 
farther  up,  even  these  earth-hugging  birches  and  spruces 


WINTER  IN  THE  WHITE  MOUNTAINS 


New  Hampshire 


17 


find  the  soil  too  thin  and  the  warfare  with  the  elements  too 
strenuous,  and  there  is  nought  but  a  drear  waste  of  shattered 
lichened  rock,  with  intervals  of  coarse  grass,  moss,  diminutive 
blueberry  bushes,  and  a  few  dainty  blossoms. 

A  bridle  path  was  cut  to  the  top  in  1819,  and  the  next 
year  some  gentlemen  who  stayed  on  the  summit  overnight 
named  the  different  peaks  of  what  has  since  been  known  as 
the  Presidential  Range.  The  names  are  those  of  the  early 
presidents,  Washington,  Adams,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe, 
and  Jackson.  In  1840  the  first  horse  was  ridden  to  the  top  of 
Mt.  Washington,  and  thirteen  years  later  a  house  was  erected 
on  the  summit.  All  the  buildings  there  have  to  be  made  se 
cure  by  anchoring  with  numerous  cables  and  rods  in  order  to 
withstand  the  fierce 
gales  which  on  this 
bleak  height  have 
registered  the  amaz 
ing  velocity  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty 
miles  an  hour.  A 
good  but  steep  road 
enables  automobiles 
to  go  to  the  top. 
Most  people,  how 
ever,  prefer  to  make 
the  ascent  on  a  queer 
little  railway,  three 
miles  long,  which 
was  completed  in  1869.  When  its  inventor  applied  to  the 
legislature  for  a  charter,  the  scheme  seemed  so  impossible 
that  a  member  sarcastically  moved  to  give  the  applicant 
leave  to  build  a  railway  to  the  moon. 

In  1826  the  Crawford  Notch  was  the  scene  of  a  strange 
catastrophe.     A  rustic  tavern  had  been  built  in  the  heart 


ECHO  LAKE  IN  FRANCONIA  NOTCH 


18  What  to  See  in  America 

of  the  notch,  and  was  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Willey, 
their  five  children,  and  two  hired  men.  At  dusk,  one  August 
day,  a  storm  burst  on  the  mountains  and  raged  with  great 
fury  through  the  night.  This  started  an  avalanche  of  earth, 
rocks,  and  trees.  The  tavern  family  became  alarmed  and 
ran  out  to  seek  safety,  only  to  be  overwhelmed.  If  they 
had  remained  in  the  house,  they  would  not  have  been  harmed, 
for  the  avalanche  divided  a  little  back  of  the  dwelling  and 
rushed  by  on  either  side.  A  flock  of  sheep  that  was  in  the 
yard  was  uninjured,  but  the  barn  was  crushed  and  two 
horses  in  it  were  killed. 

Aside  from  the  mountains  themselves  and  their  wild 
notches,  there  are  various  other  attractions  which  every 
visitor  wishes  to  see,  such  as  Echo  Lake,  the  Old  Man  of 
the  Mountain,  and  the  Flume.  If  you  stand  on  the  shore  of 
Echo  Lake  in  the  Eranconia  Notch,  opposite  the  bluffs  that 
rise  in  places  abruptly  from  the  water,  your  voice  or  the 
report  of  a  pistol  or  the  notes  of  a  bugle  come  back  with 
startling  clearness  on  a  quiet  day.  Only  a  mile  distant  is 
Profile  Lake,  from  which  the  woods  sweep  up  a  precipitous 
slope  for  more  than  a  thousand  feet,  and  you  see,  near  the 
summit,  the  grim  stone  features  of  the  Old  Man  outjutting 
from  a  tremendous  cliff.  The  face  is  forty  feet  in  length. 
The  Flume  is  an  almost  straight  cleft  nine  hundred  feet  long 
and  sixty  deep.  Its  perpendicular  walls  are  only  a  few  feet 
apart,  and  a  little  stream  which  enters  the  upper  end  of  the 
Flume  by  a  leap  from  the  brow  of  a  precipice  rushes  down 
the  shadowy  depths  with  much  noise  and  turmoil. 

Bears  are  still  shot  and  trapped  in  the  mountains.  The 
last  wolf  was  killed  in  1870.  About  half  of  the  main  mass  of 
the  mountains  is  now  a  National  Forest. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  summer  people  leave  over 
$5,000,000  a  year  in  New  Hampshire.  Among  their  favorite 
resorts  are  the  shores  of  such  lakes  as  Sunapee  and  Winnepe- 


New  Hampshire 


19 


saukee.  These  names  were  bestowed  by  the  Indians.  The 
latter  means  "The  Smiles  of  the  Great  Spirit."  Winnepe- 
saukee  is  a  very  ir 
regular  lake  with  a 
breadth  of  from  one 
to  twelve  miles  and  a 
length  of  twenty,  and 
with  three  hundred 
and  sixty  islands. 

The    beaches    of 
the    state's    short 

shore    line    attract  LAKE  SUNAPEE 

many   visitors,    and 

so  do  the  famous  Isles  of  Shoals  which  Lowell  describes  as : 

"A  heap  of  bare  and  splintery  crags, 
Tumbled  about  by  lightning  and  frost, 
With  rifts  and  chasms,  and  storm-bleached  jags, 
That  wait  and  growl  for  a  ship  to  be  lost." 

These  isles  are 
about  three 
leagues  off  shore. 
The  largest  of 
the  nine  islands 
is  a  mile  in 
length  and  half 
a  mile  across. 
On  one  of  them 
enough  ground 
free  from  bowl 
ders  is  found  for 
a  few  acres  of 
mowing,  and  on 
another  for  some  garden  plots.  They  are  wholly  treeless, 


MT.  CHOCORUA  AND  BEAK  CAMP  RIVEH 


20 


What  to  See  in  America 


and  support  nothing  of  larger  growth  than  huckleberry  and 
bayberry  bushes,  woodbines,  and  wild  roses.  Formerly 
swine  were  numerous  on  Appledore,  which  was  then  known 
as  Hog  Island,  and  there  was  a  tavern  on  Smutty  Nose. 
A  considerable  number  of  people  made  the  Isles  their 
homes,  and  engaged  in  trade,  commerce,  and  fishing ;  but 
of  late  years  the  only  permanent  family  has  been  that  of 
the  lighthouse  keeper. 

One  of  the  most  charming  and  unusual  of  New  Hampshire 
towns  is  Cornish  on  the  bank  of  the  Connecticut.     It  is  a 

place  of  wonderful  estates  that 
have  been  developed  by  a  colony 
of  artists,  authors,  and  other  pro 
fessional  men.  An  early  comer 
was  Augustus  St.  Gaudens,  Amer 
ica's  greatest  sculptor.  The 
beautiful  homes  are  widely  scat 
tered  about  the  neighborhood  of 
Blow-me-down  Brook  in  a  region 
of  steep  hills  and  deep  valleys, 
with  the  giant  form  of  Mt.  As- 
cutney  looming  skyward  not  far 
away  to  the  south. 

Portsmouth,  formerly  the  larg 
est  place  in  the  state,  has  failed 
to  keep  pace  with  the  manufac 
turing  cities  that  use  water  power. 
Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich,  the  poet,  was  born  in  Portsmouth, 
and  it  was  there  he  had  the  youthful  experiences  that  he 
relates  in  his  delightful  "Story  of  a  Bad  Boy."  The  simple 
old  house  in  which  he  lived  has  been  preserved  as  a 
memorial. 

Another  famous  man  of  remarkable  originality  who  began 
life  in  New  Hampshire  was  the  editor,  Horace  Greeley.     He 


A  PORTSMOUTH  ENTRANCE 


New  Hampshire  21 

was  born  in  1811  in  a  humble  farmhouse  at  Amherst,  a  few 
miles  north  of  Nashua. 

But  the  greatest  reputation  attained  by  any  of  New  Hamp 
shire's  sons  was  that  won  by  Daniel  Webster,  who  was  born 
in  1782  at  the  little  town  of  Salisbury,  about  twenty  miles 
north  of  Concord.  He  was  the  ninth  in  a  family  of  ten 
children.  At  a  very  early  age  he  was  able  to  read  with  such 
fluency  and  charm  that  the  neighbors  would  often  stop  at 
the  farmhouse  and  ask  "Webster's  boy"  to  read  to  them. 
His  selections  were  always  from  the  Bible,  and  he  read 
with  a  dramatic  power  that  held  his  hearers  spellbound. 
To  prepare  for  college  he  went  to  Exeter  Academy.  He 
traveled  thither,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles,  "riding  double" 
behind  his  father.  The  clothes  that  he  wore  had  been  out 
grown,  and  these  and  his  rustic  manners  caused  him  much 
mortification  at  the  school.  He  graduated  at  Dartmouth 
in  1801,  and  within  a  few  years  moved  to  Portsmouth, 
where  he  was  a  successful  lawyer  and  politician.  Yet  a 
decade  later,  when  he  left  to  make  his  home  in  Boston, 
his  unpaid  debts  amounted  to  thousands  of  dollars ;  for  he 
had  a  spendthrift  habit  which  resulted  in  his  seldom  being 
free  from  an  oppressive  burden  of  debt  his  life  through. 

New  Hampshire's  three  largest  cities  are  on  the  Merrimac. 
Of  these  Concord  owes  its  growth  in  part  to  being  the  state 
capital.  The  growth  of  the  other  two,  Manchester  and 
Nashua,  can  be  credited  almost  wholly  to  their  manufactur 
ing.  At  Concord  are  important  granite  quarries,  but  New 
Hampshire  gets  its  title  of  the  "Granite  State,"  and  its 
people  their  nickname  of  "Granite  Boys,"  not  from  the 
amount  of  that  stone  quarried,  but  from  the  amount  that 
exists  within  its  boundaries.  Some  of  its  mountains,  such 
as  Mt.  Washington,  are  almost  entirely  of  granite.  Mica 
is  an  important  product  of  the  state,  and  in  Grafton  County 
are  the  nation's  leading  mica  mines. 


22  What  to  See  in  America 

At  Manchester  is  the  largest  cotton  mill  in  the  world.  It 
gets  its  power  from  the  Amoskeag  Falls,  which  have  a  drop  of 
fifty-five  feet.  The  place  was  a  great  fishing  resort  of  the 
Indians  and  early  settlers,  and  the  shad  passing  up  the  falls 
in  the  spring  are  said  to  have  been  so  numerous  that  a  man 
could  not  put  his  hand  into  the  water  without  touching  some 
of  them. 


THE 


HAYING  IN  A  GREEN  M 


III 

• 

Vermont 

In  the  colonial  wars  the  predatory  parties  which  moved  back 
and  forth  between  Canada  and  the  frontier  settlements  of 
New  England  followed  the  waterways.  These  waterways 
were  navigable  almost  to  their  sources  by  the  light  birch 
canoes  of  the  Indians ;  and  in  winter,  when  they  were  frozen, 
they  still  offered  the  routes  of  easiest  grade  for  snowshoes 
and  sledges.  The  route  oftenest  chosen  was  by  way  of  Lake 
Champlain,  and  up  Otter  Creek,  then  down  White  River  and 
the  Connecticut.  This  was  commonly  known  as  the  "  Indian 
Road,"  and  for  nearly  the  whole  distance  it  was  on  the  borders 
of  or  in  Vermont.  The  raids  from  Canada  led  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  Vermont's  first  settlement,  Fort  Dummer,  in  the 
southern  part  of  what  is  now  Brattleboro.  The  fort  was  built 
by  Massachusetts,  and  was  named  in  honor  of  that  colony's 
lieutenant  governor.  Shortly  after  its  completion  in  1724, 
it  was  attacked  by  Indians,  and  several  of  its  occupants  were 
killed  or  wounded. 

As  soon  as  the  English  came  into  possession  of  Canada 

24 


Vermont 


25 


in  1759,  the  invasions  ceased,  and  settlers  began  to  drift 
into  the  region.  In  a  short  time  Bennington  was  a  hamlet 
in  which  the  principal  building  was  the  Green  Mountain 
Tavern,  with  a  stuft'ed  catamount  for  a  sign.  Brattleboro 
boasted  the  only  store  in  the  province,  Westminster  had  a 
courthouse  and  jail,  and  at 
Vergennes  on  Otter  Creek 
were  a  mill  and  a  half  dozen 
cabins. 

After  the  inflow  of  settlers 
began,  New  York  and  New 
Hampshire  both  laid  claim 
to  the  whole  region,  and 
there  ensued  much  hostility 
between  these  colonies.  The 
settlers  organized  under 
Ethan  Allen  of  Bennington 
to  oppose  the  New  Yorkers, 
and  adopted  the  name  of 
Green  Mountain  Boys,  a 
name  which  still  endures  as 
the  popular  nickname  of  the 
people  of  the  state. 

When  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  reached  Vermont, 
the  leading  men  met  at  Bennington  in  the  Catamount  Tavern 
and  "attempted  to  explore  futurity."  The  result  of  their 
deliberations  was  that  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  Green 
Mountain  Boys,  together  with  forty  recruits  from  Massa 
chusetts  and  sixteen  from  Connecticut,  all  under  the  leader 
ship  of  Ethan  Allen,  captured  the  stronghold  of  Ticonderoga. 
Two  years  later  Burgoyne's  army  made  its  way  down  from 
Canada,  and  troops  from  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  and 
Massachusetts  gathered  to  oppose  the  invaders.  A  forag 
ing  force  of  seven  hundred  British  and  one  hundred  Indians 


A  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN  FERRY 


26 


What  to  See  in  America 


was  attacked  August  10  on  a  hill  west  of  Bennington  by  the 
Yankee  farmers.  As  Gen.  John  Stark  led  a  charge  he  shouted, 
"  Those  redcoats  are  ours  to-day  or  Molly  Stark  is  a  widow  !" 
So  vigorous  was  the  onset  that  the  Indians  stole  away  in 
affright,  and  few  of  the  British  escaped  death  or  capture. 
A  supporting  enemy  force  of  six  hundred  that  arrived  later  in 
the  day  renewed  the  battle,  but  when  the  sun  had  set  it 
hastily  retreated.  Two  of  the  cannon  captured  in  the  com 
bat  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
State  House  at  Montpelier. 

There  was  a  time  when 
smugglers  sailed  by  night  on 
Lake  Champlain  in  armed 
bands  of  such  strength  that 
the  revenue  officers  seldom 
ventured  to  molest  them. 
One  notorious  smuggling  ves 
sel  was  called  the  Black  Snake. 
This  was  finally  seized  by  a 
party  of  militia  in  the  Wi- 
nooski  Gorge.  Three  of  the 
captors  were  killed  in  a  skir 
mish  with  the  smugglers. 

Schooners  and  sloops  used 
to  dot  the  lake,  but  have 
been  increasingly  rare  since 
1875.  Here  and  there  on  the  long  narrow  waterway  is  a 
ferry.  Most  of  the  ferry-boats  are  propelled  by  steam,  but 
formerly  they  were  flat-bottomed  scows  that  had  a  mast  and 
sail.  The  ice  makes  an  excellent  bridge  in  winter,  and  at 
that  time  the  lake  is  often  used  as  a  race  course  for  horse 
trots.  The  most  important  lake  port  is  Vermont's  largest 
city,  Burlington.  A  vast  amount  of  lumber  comes  there  by 
way  of  the  lake  from  Canada,  and  the  city  is  one  of  the 


WlLLOUGHBY  LAKE  AND  WHEELER 
MOUNTAIN 


Vermont 


27 


GATHERING  MAPLE  SAP 


leading  lumber  mar 
kets  of  the  country. 
In  this  part  of  the 
lake  occurred  some 
lively  naval  fighting 
in  the  War  of  1812. 
Once  during  that  war 
the  islet  Rock  D un 
der,  which  lifts  its 
bare  surface  above 
the  water  near  Bur 
lington,  was  mistaken 
by  the  British  for  a  United  States  vessel,  and  was  peppered 
with  shot. 

The  name  of  one  place  by  the  lakeside  which  may  provoke 
inquiry  is  that  of  Chimney  Point.  A  settlement  grew  up 
there  while  the  French  were  in  possession  of  the  fort  on  the 

opposite  shore,  but 
when  the  fort  was 
captured  the  settle 
ment  was  burned. 
Its  blackened  chim 
neys,  however,  re 
mained  for  years, 
and  they  gave  the 
point  its  name. 

The  most  impor 
tant  industry  of  the 
"Green  Mountain 
State"  is  agriculture. 
Abundant  crops  of  hay  and  grain  are  raised,  and  apples  and 
other  fruits  are  largely  grown.  In  no  other  state  is  so  high 
a  yield  of  butter  secured  from  the  cows  as  in  Vermont. 
Much  of  the  butter  is  made  in  creameries.  The  daily  prod- 


FALLS  AT  BOLTONVILLE 


28  What  to  See  in  America 

uct  of  one  St.  Albans  creamery  is  at  times  more  than  ten 
tons  of  butter,  the  milk  for  which  is  gathered  from  six  hundred 
dairies.  Sap  from  Vermont's  rock  maples  supplies  more  than 
half  the  maple  sugar  made  in  the  United  States.  The  larger 
sugar  places  have  two  or  three  thousand  trees  on  them. 
In  St.  Johnsbury  is  a  great  twelve-acre  factory  devoted  to 
the  making  of  scales.  It  is  the  largest  factory  in  its  line 
in  the  world.  Over  one  hundred  varieties  of  scales  are 
made ;  the  smallest  will  weigh  a  letter,  and  the  largest  will 
weigh  a  loaded  railroad  car. 

Another  widely  known  manufacture  of  the  state  is  that  of 
organs  for  homes  and  for  churches  and  other  public  buildings, 
at  Brattleboro.  Back  in  1835  an  inventive  Brattleboro 
genius  made  and  operated  a  steam  carriage  on  the  local  roads. 
This  was  the  first  horseless  carriage  ever  contrived  in  America. 
It  was  built  at  a  cost  of  about  $600  and  was  in  existence  for 
nearly  ten  years.  Its  speed  on  an  ordinary  carriage  road  was 
a  dozen  or  more  miles  an  hour.  However,  so  many  horses 
were  frightened  that  during  the  latter  part  of  its  career  the 
selectmen  forbade  its  using  the  public  roads  unless  a  boy 
ran  ahead  of  it  blowing  a  horn.  One  day  it  plunged  down  a 
bank  and  there  stayed  a  number  of  years  before  it  was 
carried  off  by  a  junk  man.  In  the  vicinity  of  Brattleboro  the 
famous  English  author,  Rudyard  Kipling,  abode  for  a  time, 
and  while  a  resident  wrote  "Captains  Courageous,"  a  story 
of  the  Gloucester  fishermen  which  ranks  among  the  best 
of  boys'  books. 

In  the  town  of  Sharon,  a  few  miles  north  of  Woodstock, 
Joseph  Smith,  founder  of  the  Mormon  religion,  was  born  in 
1805,  and  there  spent  his  boyhood  up  to  the  age  of  ten,  when 
the  family  moved  to  western  New  York. 

One  noteworthy  source  of  wealth  in  Vermont  is  its  quarries. 
Limestone  is  gotten  out  for  building  purposes  and  also  to  be 
burned  for  lime.  Granite  of  different  textures  and  colors  is 


Vermont  29 

quarried  at  various  places,  and  in  and  about  Barre  this 
industry  employs  many  thousands  of  workers.  Some  of  the 
most  important  of  American  slate  quarries  are  in  Vermont. 
Marble  began  to  be  quarried  in  the  state  soon  after  the 
Revolution,  and  over  half  the  marble  used  in  the  country 
since  that  time  has  come  from  there.  The  great  quarries  of 
West  Rutland  were  first  worked  in  1836.  Before  that  the 
site  of  the  quarries  had  been  a  barren  sheep  pasture,  shaggy 
with  stunted  evergreens.  The  wealth  this  pasture  roofed 
was  undreamed  of,  and  the  whole  tract  was  so  cheaply  valued 
that  it  was  once  exchanged  for  an  old  horse  worth  less  than  a 
single  one  of  the  huge  blocks  of  marble  that  day  by  day  are 
hoisted  from  the  quarry  depths.  In  the  northwestern  part 
of  the  state  beautiful  variegated  and  black  marbles  are 
quarried. 

Among  the  Vermont  towns  are  scarcely  any  which  do  not 
contain  some  mountain  or  lofty  hill  whence  a  delightful 
view  can  be  obtained.  The  heights  are  nearly  all  clothed 
with  verdure  from  base  to  summit,  and  the  name  of  the  state, 
derived  from  two  French  words,  Verd  Mont,  W7hich  mean 
Green  Mountain,  is  very  appropriate.  Mt.  Mansfield, 
with  an  altitude  of  4406  feet,  is  the  highest  point  in  the 
state.  It  is  about  twenty  miles  northwest  of  Montpelier. 


Bow  ARROW  POINT  BETWEEN  NORTH  HERO  AND  SOUTH  HERO 


MINOT'S  LEDGE  LIGHTHOUSE 

IV 

Massachusetts 

On  the  21st  of  December,  1620,  while  the  Mayflower  lay  at 
Provincetown,  an  exploring  party,  consisting  of  twelve 
Pilgrims  and  six  sailors  in  the  ship's  shallop,  stepped  out  of 
their  clumsy  boat  on  to  Plymouth  Rock  —  a  lonely  bowlder 
brought  thither  by  an  ancient  glacier.  The  vicinity,  with 
its  excellent  springs,  impressed  the  explorers  favorably,  and 
there  the  Pilgrims  started  a  settlement  of  rude  log  cabins. 
Early  in  their  stay,  Francis  Billington  climbed  to  the  top 
of  a  tree  and  discovered  a  broad  pond  about  two  miles  from 
the  hamlet.  lie  mistook  it  for  a  great  sea,  and  it  has  been 
called  Billington  Sea  ever  since.  Several  times  during 
the  winter  the  settlers  observed  in  the  distance  smoke  and 
fires  which  could  have  been  made  only  by  Indians. 

In  April  an  Indian  named  Squanto  visited  them.  He 
could  speak  their  language,  for  his  home  was  in  Maine,  where 
he  had  met  many  English  fishermen,  one  of  whose  captains 
had  carried  him  off  across  the  ocean.  Another  captain 
brought  him  back  and  left  him  on  Cape  Cod.  The  Pilgrims 

30 


Massachusetts 


31 


were  suffering  for  lack  of  food,  and  Squanto  went  to  catch 
eels  for  them,  and  showed  them  where  to  fish.  Besides,  he 
taught  them  to  plant  corn  when  the  new  oak  leaves  were 
the  size  of  a  mouse's  ear,  and  to  place  three  herrings  for  fer 
tilizer  in  each  hill  with  the  seed.  Through  him  a  treaty  of 
peace  was  made  with 
Massasoit,  the  Indian 
sagamore  of  the  region. 

There  was  much  sick 
ness  among  the  settlers, 
and  half  the  little  band 
died  the  first  winter.  One 
of  the  notable  men  of 
the  colony  was  ("apt. 
Miles  Standish.  He  was 
robust,  active,  and  dar 
ing,  yet  so  short  of  stat 
ure  that  a  neighbor,  in 
a  moment  of  anger,  called 
him  "Capt.  Shrimp." 
His  wife  died  soon  after 
arriving  at  Plymouth, 
and  the  captain  presently 
decided  to  court  Priscilla 
Mullins.  He  sent  John 
Alden,  a  young  man  who 

was  living  at  his  house,  to  ask  Mr.  Mullins's  permission  to 
visit  his  daughter.  Mr.  Mullins  referred  Alden  to  Priscilla, 
who,  when  she  heard  what  he  had  to  say,  responded,  "  Prithee, 
John,  why  don't  you  speak  for  yourself?" 

He  blushed  and  bowed  and  left  the  house,  but  soon  came 
on  another  visit  and  spoke  for  himself  so  effectively  that  their 
wedding  followed  in  a  short  time.  Among  their  many  distin 
guished  descendants  are  the  poets  Bryant  and  Longfellow. 


PLYMOUTH  ROCK 


32 


What  to  See  in  America 


In  1623  the  Pilgrims  were  in  much  distress  of  mind  over  a 
drought  that  began  the  third  week  of  May.  When  the 
middle  of  July  arrived  without  rain  a  day  was  set  apart  to 
pray  for  relief.  It  opened  clear  and  hot,  but  toward  evening 
the  sky  began  to  be  overcast,  and  soon  "such  sweet  and 
gentle  showers"  fell  as  caused  the  Pilgrims  to  rejoice  and 
bless  God.  That  was  the  first  New  England  Thanksgiving. 
Plymouth  is  now  a  place  of  about  10,000  people,  but  it  still 
retains  an  attractive  savor  of  the  olden  times,  and  it  is  a 
favorite  summer  resort. 

About  1624  a  young  English  clergyman  named  Blackstone 
became  the  first  settler  of  Boston.  He  built  a  cabin  on  the 
west  slope  of  Beacon  Hill,  and  there  he  lived  alone. 

.,  Apparently  he 
did  not  care  to 
have  near  neigh 
bors,  for  when 
the  Puritans  led 
by  Winthrop  ar 
rived  in  1630  he 
did  not  long  de 
lay  moving,  and 
established  a 
new  home  in  the 
Rhode  Island  wilderness.  A  rude  little  village  had  been 
started  at  Charlestown  the  previous  year,  and  there  the 
Puritans  settled,  but  a  few  months  later  most  of  them  moved 
across  the  Charles  River  to  the  Boston  peninsula,  which  they 
called  Trimountain  or  Tremont,  a  name  suggested  by  a 
three-peaked  hill  near  its  center.  This  name  was  soon 
changed  to  Boston  in  memory  of  an  old  town  in  England 
where  some  of  the  settlers  had  lived.  They  called  their 
colony  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony.  Massachusetts  was 
the  name  of  a  local  tribe  of  Indians.  The  word  means 


PROVINCETOWN  ON  CAPE  COD 


Massachusetts 


33 


THE  BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


"Land  of  Great 
Hills."  Boston's 
excellent  harbor 
and  central  loca 
tion  caused  it 
to  early  develop 
into  the  leading 
town  in  New 
England,  politi 
cally  and  so 
cially. 

The     pioneers 

put  a  beacon  on  the  central  hill's  highest  peak  to  give  a 
night  alarm  when  there  was  need.  Since  then  the  old  three- 
peaked  height  has  been  much  reduced  by  grading,  and  now 
it  all  goes  under  the  name  of  Beacon  Hill.  On  this  hill 

stands  the  State  House, 

occupying  land  that 
was  formerly  a  part  of 
the  cow  pasture  of  the 
wealthy  merchant  and 
patriot,  John  Hancock. 
Wherever  you  go  into 
the  city  suburbs,  if  the 
day  is  clear  and  sunny, 
you  can  see  the  build 
ing's  gleaming  gilded 
dome.  The  front,  which 
is  considered  a  fine  ex 
ample  of  the  architec 
ture  of  its  day,  was 
finished  in  1798. 
A  book  by  Oliver 

THE  OLD  STATE  HOUSE  Wendell    Holmes,    One 


34  What  to  See  in  America 

of  the  famous  literary  men  who  have  lived  in  the  city,  con 
tains  the  statement  that  "Boston  State  House  is  the  hub 
of  the  solar  system."  People  said,  "  If  that  is  so,  then  Boston 
itself  must  be  the  hub  of  the  universe;"  and  the  place  has 
been  known  as  "the  Hub"  ever  since. 

The  State  House  fronts  on  a  corner  of  Boston  Common, 
which,  with  its  mild  hills  and  hollows  and  noble  elm  trees 
is  the  pride  of  all  Bostonians.  It  has  served  as  a  pasture 
and  as  a  parade  ground  for  the  militia.  On  it  pirates  have 
been  hung,  and  Quakers  have  suffered  the  death  penalty, 
and  duels  have  been  fought. 

Not  far  awray  are  several  historic  churches.  One  of  them 
is  the  Park  Street  Church,  whose  slender  spire  overlooks  the 
common  from  "Brimstone  Corner."  In  it  our  national  hymn, 
"America,"  was  first  sung  in  1832  as  part  of  the  program  for 
the  celebration  of  the  4th  of  July.  A  little  beyond  is  King's 
Chapel,  where  the  British  officials  and  loyalist  gentry  wor 
shiped  in  colonial  days.  Close  to  each  of  these  buildings  is 
an  ancient  cemetery  with  its  lowly  gray  stones.  Some  say 
that  in  the  King's  Chapel  Churchyard  the  notorious  pirate, 
Capt.  Kidd,  lies  buried,  and  that  if  a  person  will  visit  his 
tomb  there  at  midnight,  tap  on  it  three  times,  and  ask  in  a 
whisper,  "Capt.  Kidd,  for  what  were  you  hung?"  the  pirate 
will  answer  nothing.  At  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Milk 
streets  is  the  Old  South  Meetinghouse.  When  the  British 
were  besieged  in  the  town  they  turned  the  building  into  a 
riding-school. 

Just  across  Milk  Street  from  this  church  there  used  to  be 
a  little  two-story  wooden  dwelling  in  which  Benjamin 
Franklin  was  born  in  1706.  He  was  the  fifteenth  of  his  father's 
seventeen  children.  While  serving  an  apprenticeship  to  an 
older  brother  who  was  a  printer,  he  secretly  left  home  and 
made  his  way  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  won  fame  and  fortune. 
Three  other  great  Americans  born  in  Boston  were  Emerson, 


Massachusetts 


35 


the  philosopher,  and  Parkman,  the  historian,  and  Edgar 
Allan  Poe,  one  of  the  most  original  of  our  poets.  Alexander 
Graham  Bell,  the  inventor  of  the  telephone,  was  a  professor 
in  Boston  University  when  the  first  telephone  line  was  used 
in  April,  1877.  This  line 
was  three  miles  long  and 
connected  Boston  and 
Somerville. 

One  of  the  quaintest 
of  the  city  buildings  is 
the  Old  State  House.  It 
is  at  the  head  of  what 
wras,  in  colonial  days, 
King  Street,  where  were  THE  HARVARD  GATES 

located   the    stocks,  pil 
lory,  and  whipping-post.     Within  a  stone's  throw  of  it  oc 
curred  the  Boston  Massacre  in  March,  1770,  when  a  squad  of 


LONGFELLOW'S  HOME,  CAMBRIDGE 

British  soldiers  fired  on  an  unarmed  mob,  killing  four  men 
and  wounding  seven  others,  two  of  whom  afterward  died. 


36 


What  to  See  in  America 


THE  HOUSE  OF  SEVEN  GABLES,  SALEM 


A  few  streets  northerly  is  Faneuil  Hall,  "the  Cradle  of 
Liberty,"  so  called  because  in  it  the  colonists  held  many 
public  meetings  when  the  struggle  with  the  mother  country 

was  approach 
ing.  It  has  al 
ways  been  a 
combination  of 
hall  above  and 
market  below 
from  the  time 
that  Peter  Fan 
euil  built  and 
presented  it  to 
the  town  in 
1741. 

Boston'searly 
settlers  estab 
lished  at  the  north  end  of  the  peninsula  a  village  which  was 
quite  distinct  from  the  one  near  Beacon  Hill.  This  is  a 
crowded  foreign  section  of  the  city  now,  but  here  still  stands 
the  Old  North  Meetinghouse,  famous  for  its  connection  with 
Paul  Kevere's  Ride. 

Charlestown  is  now  a  part  of  Boston,  and  is  connected 
by  bridges  with  the  peninsula.  On  one  of  its  heights  rises 
the  granite  shaft  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  which  com 
memorates  the  famous  battle  fought  there.  The  corner  stone 
was  laid  by  Lafayette  in  1825,  and  Daniel  Webster  was  the 
orator  of  the  occasion,  as  he  was  also  when  the  completion  of 
the  monument  was  celebrated  in  1843.  Inside  of  the  shaft  is 
a  spiral  stairway  of  295  stone  steps  up  which  one  can  climb  to 
the  top.  Samuel  Morse,  the  inventor  of  the  telegraph, 
was  born  at  Charlestown  in  1791. 

Within  a  ten-mile  circle  drawn  around  Boston  dwell  half 
the  inhabitants  of  the  "Old  Bav  State,"  a  name  derived 


Massachusetts 


37 


from  that  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  and  they 
constitute  one  fourth  of  the  entire  population  of  New 
England.  The  older  business  part  of  the  city  is  a  maze  of 
narrow  crooked  streets  which  are  said  to  follow  the  routes  of 
the  old  lanes  and  cow  paths  that  were  made  when  the  place 
was  a  country  village.  In  the  adjacent  region  are  many 
beautiful  suburban  towns.  The  finest  of  these  is  Brookline, 
which  is  a  paradise  of  splendid  estates.  In  the  early  days 
its  name  was  Muddy  Kiver,  and  the  Boston  merchants  pas 
tured  their  swine  and  cows  there  in  summer. 

A  spark,  snapped  from  a  furnace  in  the  business  section 
of  the  city,  started  a  fire  in  November,  1872,  which  burned 
over  sixty -five  acres,  caused  thirteen  deaths  and  a  property 
loss  of  $70,000,000.  On  the  outer  side  of  Boston  Harbor  is 
Nantasket  Beach,  the  most  popular  of  the  city's  seaside  resorts. 
The  harbor  is  dotted  with  islands.  On  one  little  islet  near  the 
entrance,  known 
as  Nix's  Mate, 
there  used  to  be 
a  gibbet  espe 
cially  for  pirates. 
The  most  fa 
mous  episode  in 
the  harbor's  his 
tory  is  the  Boston 
Tea  Party.  On 
the  night  of  De 
cember  16,  1773, 
a  hundred  men 
befeathered  like  savage  warriors,  and  their  faces  smeared 
with  soot,  boarded  three  vessels  recently  arrived  from  across 
the  ocean  with  cargoes  of  tea,  broke  open  the  chests,  and 
threw  them  overboard.  This  was  done  as  a  protest  against 
Britain's  arrogant  methods  of  taxation. 


THE  SHORE  AT  MARBLEHEAD 


38  What  to  See  in  America 

One  of  the  old  towns  which  has  been  annexed  to  Boston  is 
Roxbury,  whose  first  minister  was  John  Eliot,  "the  Apostle 
of  the  Indians."  He  learned  their  language  and  translated 
the  Bible  into  their  tongue.  In  West  Roxbury  was  the 
famous  communistic  Brook  Farm,  where  some  of  the  most 
notable  men  and  women  in  America  once  lived  and  culti 
vated  the  land  and  their  brains.  People  used  to  laugh  at 
the  spectacle  of  rustic  philosophers  hoeing  out  wisdom  and 
potatoes  at  the  same  time,  and  the  neighbors  said  that 
the  Brook  Farmers  once  raised  500  tufts  of  burdock,  mistak 
ing  them  for  cabbages. 

Next  to  Plymouth  the  oldest  place  in  New  England  is 
Salem,  the  "Witch  City."  It  was  begun  in  1626  by  a  little 
band  of  English  farmers  and  fishermen,  who  moved  to  the 
spot  from  the  bleak  shores  of  Cape  Ann.  Two  years  later 
they  were  joined  by  Captain  John  Endicott  and  a  hundred 
adventurers  from  England.  For  a  long  time  Salem  was  a 
great  seaport  and  a  center  for  the  coast  fisheries.  One  of 
the  most  interesting  of  the  city's  colonial  relics  is  the  little 
church,  17X20  feet,  built  for  Roger  Williams,  who  came 
to  the  settlement  to  be  its  pastor  when  it  was  three  years  old. 
Another  building  that  all  strangers  wish  to  see  is  "The 
Witches'  House."  This  was  the  residence  of  one  of  the 
judges  before  whom  those  accused  of  being  witches  appeared 
for  examination.  The  witch  delusion  created  more  turmoil 
at  Salem  than  anywhere  else  in  the  colonies,  yet  its  tragic 
period  there  lasted  only  about  six  months  in  the  year  1692. 
During  that  period  nineteen  persons  were  hung,  and  a  well- 
to-do  farmer,  eighty-one  years  old,  was  put  to  death  by  plac 
ing  heavy  stones  on  his  body.  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  was 
born  at  Salem  in  1804  in  a  house  that  still  stands,  and  not 
far  from  that  is  the  House  of  Seven  Gables  to  which  the 
family  moved  when  he  was  four  years  old.  In  his  manhood 
he  was  collector  of  the  port  for  a  time,  and  daily  labored  at 


Massachusetts 


39 


OLD  MOTHER  ANN,  CAPE  ANN 


the  custom  house,  though  it  was  said  that  "  he  .never  could 
add  up  figgers."  Like  many  another  American  city,  Salem 
has  had  its  great  fire.  This  started  in  a  leather  factory  in 
June,  1914.  Several  persons  were  burned  to  death,  others 
died  from  excitement,  and  20,000  people  were  left  homeless. 

Only  a  few  miles  from  Salem  is  Marblehead,  on  a  bold 
headland.     Its  inhabitants  were  fishermen  for  many  genera 
tions,    but    lat-    F 
terly    the    town 
has    become   a 
manufacturing 
center  and  sum 
mer  resort. 

A  more  im 
portant  out- 
thrust  of  the 
coast  is  Cape 
Ann,  which  Capt.  John  Smith  called  Tragabigzanda  in  honor 
of  a  Turkish  lady  whose  slave  he  had  been  in  Constanti 
nople.  Back  of  Cape  Ann  is  Gloucester,  New  England's 
greatest  fishing  port,  and  a  place  of  notable  picturesqueness 
and  interest.  Another  charming  old  coast  town  is  Xewbury- 
port  at  the  mouth  of  the  Merrimac.  Of  its  various  famous 
residents  probably  "Lord"  Timothy  Dexter  is  most  fascinat 
ing  to  visitors,  a  fact  not  wholly  to  the  liking  of  its  citizens. 
He  came  there  after  winning  prosperity  as  a  leather  dresser 
in  Charlestown,  and  bought  a  mansion  which  he  painted  in 
gaudy  colors,  and  whose  roof  he  adorned  with  minarets 
surmounted  by  a  profusion  of  gilt  balls.  In  front  of  the 
house  he  erected  rows  of  columns,  and  on  each  placed  an 
image  carved  in  wood.  There  were  fully  forty  of  the  effigies, 
and  they  included  Indian  chiefs,  generals,  philosophers, 
politicians,  and  statesmen,  with  now  and  then  a  goddess  of 
Fame  or  Liberty,  and  a  number  of  lions.  One  was  of 


40  What  to  See  in  America 

Dexter  himself,  inscribed,  "I  am  the  Greatest  Man  in  the 
East." 

On  the  coast  south  of  Boston  is  Quincy,  the  birthplace  of 
two  presidents  of  the  United  States,  John  Adams,  and  his  son, 
John  Quincy  Adams.  The  simple  farmhouses  in  which  they 
were  born  are  only  a  few  rods  apart.  Nearly  all  the  south- 

Tjsa    western  part  of  the  town 

V-.  is  a  mass  of  granite  rock, 

\   /  and  here  is  one  of  the 

j-*^v  oldest  granite  quarries  in 

\  •  the  country.     America's 

earliest  railroad  was  built 
from  this  quarry,  three 
miles,  to  tidewater  in 
the  Neponset  River. 

A  NANTUCKET  WINDMILL  r  . 

\\ooden  rails  were  laid 

on  blocks  of  stone,  and  covered  with  strips  of  iron.  A 
single  horse  could  draw  twenty  tons  of  granite  on  one  of  the 
wagon-like  cars.  The  first  trip  was  made  in  1826.  At 
Quincy  are  the  great  Fore  River  shipbuilding  works. 

In  the  neighboring  town  of  Hingham  is  the  oldest  house 
of  worship  in  the  United  States  now  in  use,  erected  in  1680. 
It  is  called  the  "Old  Ship"  because  ship  carpenters  did  the 
framing.  There  is  a  central  belfry  which  used  to  serve  as  a 
lookout  station,  and  the  bell  rope  dangles  down  to  the  floor 
in  the  center  aisle  of  the  church. 

Eight  miles  southeast  of  the  entrance  to  Boston  Harbor, 
and  a  mile  and  a  half  from  land,  is  the  famous  Minot's 
Ledge  lighthouse.  The  first  lighthouse  on  the  ledge  was  a 
dwelling  supported  at  a  height  of  fifty-five  feet  on  nine  solid 
iron  shafts  that  were  ten  inches  in  diameter.  This  stood 
only  two  years.  In  the  early  spring  of  1851,  during  one  of 
the  heaviest  gales  known  on  the  coast,  great  quantities  of 
ice  adhered  to  the  supports,  and  it  was  completely  wrecked. 


Massachusetts  41 

The  keeper  and  his  two  assistants  lost  their  lives.  The 
present  structure  is  a  tapering  round  tower  of  dovetailed 
granite  blocks  that  are  made  still  more  secure  by  being 
bound  together  with  heavy  iron  pins. 

As  we  go  on  down  the  coast  we  come  to  Greenbush,  where 
was  born,  in  1785,  Samuel  Woodworth,  author  of  "The  Old 
Oaken  Bucket,"  and  where  can  be  seen  his  boyhood  home 
with  its  ancient  well-sweep.  At  Marshfield  dwelt  Daniel 
Webster  in  later  life,  and  there  he  died  and  was  buried  in  1852. 
He  had  a  domain  of  over  2000  acres,  which  he  made  one 
of  the  best  farms  in  the  country.  All  the  buildings  on  the 
place  associated  with  him  have  been  destroyed  by  fire,  except 
a  little  study  which  he  sometimes  used. 

The  oddest  feature  of  the  Massachusetts  coast  is  Cape 
Cod,  which  projects  into  the  sea  like  a  man's  bended  arm 
with  the  fist  clenched.  It  is  composed  almost  entirely  of  sand 
to  a  great  depth.  Bartholomew  Gosnold  gave  it  its  name  be 
cause  of  the  great  number  of  codfish  he  found  in  the  adjacent 
waters.  Trees  do  not  flourish  on  the  Cape,  and  such  wood 
lands  as  exist  are  apt  to  be  fire-ravaged,  and  so  thin  that  you 
can  see  the  horizon  through  them.  One  thing  for  which  the 
Cape  is  known  far  and  wide  is  cranberries.  The  vines  require 
a  great  deal  of  water,  and  the  unsightly  and  apparently  worth 
less  bogs  are  best  adapted  to  their  culture,  but  require  much 
laborious  preparation.  Picking  begins  in  mid-September 
and  lasts  about  six  weeks.  The  Cape  lies  very  open  to  the 
winds,  and  the  buffeting  of  the  fierce  sea  gales  is  evident 
in  the  upheave  of  the  sand  dunes  and  the  landward  tilt  of 
the  exposed  trees.  The  villages  are  for  the  most  part  on  the 
low-lying  and  more  protected  inner  side.  A  ship's  canal  eight 
miles  long  was  completed  at  a  cost  of  $12,000,000  in  1914, 
across  the  neck  of  land  where  the  Cape  joins  the  mainland. 
The  most  attractive  place  on  the  Cape  to  tourists  is  Province- 
town  at  the  jumping-off  tip.  It  has  an  ancient  old-world 


42  What  to  See  in  America 

look,  due  to  its  narrow  streets;  and  the  gray  fish-shanties 
and  storehouses  that  line  the  waterside  are  odorous  of  the 
sea.  The  Mayflower  lay  in  Provincetown  harbor  for  several 
weeks  after  it  crossed  the  ocean,  and  while  there  Peregrine 
White  was  born  on  board.  His  name  commemorated  the 
fact  that  the  Pilgrims  were  still  on  their  peregrinations. 
The  General  Court  later  honored  this  first  English  baby  born 
in  New  England  by  giving  him  two  hundred  acres  of  land. 

South  of  Cape  Cod  is  the  island  of  Nantucket,  with  its 
quaint  town  of  the  same  name.  It  has  a  length  of  fifteen 
miles  and  an  average  breadth  of  four  miles.  For  the  most 
part  it  is  a  wind  swept  moor  diversified  with  lagoons  and 
ponds.  The  town  huddles  about  a  harbor  on  land  that 
terraces  steeply  upward.  Some  of  the  streets  are  paved  with 
cobble-stones,  and  nearly  all  are  both  crooked  and  narrow. 
The  first  settler  bought  the  island  from  the  Indians  for  a  small 
sum  of  money  and  two  beaver  hats.  At  one  time  the  majority 
of  the  inhabitants  were  Quakers.  The  place  developed  into 
the  chief  whaling  port  of  America,  and  its  whaleships  visited 
all  the  waters  of  the  globe.  On  one  of  the  sand  hills  back  of 
the  town  is  an  old  windmill  which  was  built  in  1746  and  used 
till  1892. 

A  large  and  interesting  neighboring  island  is  Martha's 
Vineyard,  which  is  said  to  be  the  favorite  coast  resort  for 
school-teachers. 

One  of  the  most  important  places  adjacent  to  Boston  is 
Cambridge,  where  is  located  our  country's  oldest  college, 
established  only  six  years  after  Boston  was  settled.  TWTO 
years  later  a  young  clergyman,  John  Harvard,  died,  and  left 
his  books  and  half  his  estate  to  the  college,  which  forth 
with  was  called  by  his  name.  The  university  now  has  nearly 
1000  instructors  and  about  6000  students,  and  a  library 
that  numbers  over  1 ,000,000  volumes.  It  was  at  Cam 
bridge,  on  the  3d  of  July,  1775,  that  Washington,  after 


Massachusetts  43 

an  eleven  days'  journey  on  horseback  from  Philadelphia, 
assumed  command  of  the  American  army.  The  day  was 
warm  and  he  and  his  officers  took  part  in  the  cere 
mony  sheltered  from  the  sun  by  an  elm  which  still  stands, 
though  much  decayed  and  shattered.  Washington  had  his 
headquarters  at  Cambridge  in  a  large  dignified  mansion, 
which  later  became  the 
home  of  the  poet,  Long 
fellow.  A  neighboring  j> 
colonial  dwelling  was  the  [ 
birthplace  and  lifelong  j 
home  of  James  Russell  I 
Lowell.  Another  Cam 
bridge-born  notable  was 
Richard  Henry  Dana, 

Who,    When    a     youth     of         A  CONNECTICUT 

nineteen  in  1834,  under 
took  a  voyage  to  the  Pacific  as  a  common  sailor,  and 
recorded  his  experiences  in  that  sea  classic,  "Two  Years 
Before  the  Mast." 

At  the  near-by  town  of  Lexington  was  shed  the  first  blood 
of  the  Revolution,  April  19,  1775.  On  the  night  before, 
Paul  Revere,  watching  from  Charlestown,  had  seen  two 
signal  lanterns  displayed  in  the  belfry  of  Boston's  Old  North 
Church,  and  had  ridden  away  to  rouse  the  country.  It  was 
he  who  brought  the  news  to  Lexington  that  the  British  were 
coming,  and  when  they  arrived  at  dawn  they  found  the 
minute  men  on  the  little  green  to  oppose  them.  After  the 
skirmish  there  the  British  kept  on  to  Concord,  where  occurred 
the  fight  at  the  North  Bridge  and  they  began  their  disastrous 
retreat.  In  its  associations  with  great  writers  Concord  is 
the  most  famous  town  in  the  United  States.  Emerson  lived 
for  two  years  in  the  Old  Manse,  which  had  been  the  dwelling 
of  his  grandfather,  the  Concord  minister,  and  then  he  became 


44  What  to  See  in  America 

a  permanent  resident  in  a  cheerful  stately  house  on  the 
opposite  outskirts  of  the  village.  Hawthorne  came  to  make 
his  home  in  the  Old  Manse  in  1843,  and  later  bought  and 
occupied  another  Concord  house  which  he  called  the  "Way 
side."  His  next  neighbor  to  the  south  was  Ephraim  Bull, 
the  originator  of  the  Concord  Grape.  His  nearest  neighbor 
in  the  other  direction  was  Bronson  Alcott,  who  called  his 
dwelling  "Orchard  House,"  and  whose  daughter  Louisa 
wrote  there  several  of  her  famous  books  for  children. 
Thoreau,  the  nature  writer,  was  born  at  Concord  in  1817. 
Once,  in  order  to  prove  that  a  person  could  provide  himself 
with  food  and  other  necessaries  and  live  comfortably,  and 
yet  have  plenty  of  time  for  enjoyment,  he  put  up  a  cabin  in 
the  Concord  woods  beside  Walden  Pond,  and  dwelt  in  it 
for  two  years. 

Waltham  is  famous  for  its  watches  all  over  the  civilized 
world.  The  business  began  there  in  1854  with  the  employ 
ment  of  90  people,  whose  output  was  five  watches  a  day.  Now 
4000  persons  are  employed,  and  produce  daily  3000  watches. 
Fully  half  the  nation's  shoes  are  made  in  Massachusetts. 
Lynn  is  the  leading  city  for  this  industry.  Lowell,  on  the 
Merrimac  River,  is  called  the  "Spindle  City"  because  of 
the  great  number  of  spindles  in  its  big  cotton  mills.  Down 
the  river  is  Lawrence,  another  big  mill  city.  Still  farther 
down  the  stream  is  Haverhill,  which  the  Indians  raided  in 
1697,  and  whence  they  carried  away  among  their  captives 
Mrs.  Dustin,  whose  adventures  are  famous.  At  Haverhill 
Whittier  was  born  in  1807  in  a  simple  Quaker  farmhouse 
which  has  been  preserved. 

The  greatest  group  of  cotton  mills  in  the  LTnited  States 
is  at  Fall  River,  and  the  neighboring  city  of  New  Bedford  is 
also  noteworthy  for  the  number  and  size  of  its  cotton  mills. 
Over  half  the  tacks  used  by  the  nation  are  made  in  or  near 
Taunton. 


Massachusetts 


45 


The  big  city  of  the  central  part  of  the  state  is  Worcester. 
It  was  much  harassed  by  the  Indians  in  its  early  days,  and 
for  a  long  time  it  was  so  pestered  by  wolves  that  the  people 
were  deterred  from  raising  sheep.  The  most  extensive 
wire  mill  in  the  world  is  in  Worcester.  At  Spencer,  a  few 
miles  west,  was  born,  in  1819,  Elias  Howe,  the  inventor  of 
the  sewing  machine.  Eli  Whitney,  who  contrived  the  won 
derfully  simple  cotton  gin,  was  born  at  Westboro  in  1705. 
The  town  in  this  part  of  the  state  which  had  the  severest 
experience  in  the  Indian  wars  was  Lancaster.  A  night 
attack  in  February,  1070,  nearly  wiped  out  the  settlement. 
South  of  Worcester,  near  the  Connecticut  line,  in  the  town 
of  Webster,  is  a  lake  with  an  Indian  name  of  what  seems 
unprecedented  length  -  -  Chargogagogmanchogagogchau- 
bunagungamaug.  It  means  "Fishing-place  at  the  bound 
ary." 

The  oldest  place 
in  the  Connecticut 
Valley  is  Spring 
field,  settled  in  1030. 
More  than  half  the 
town  was  burned  by 
the  Indians  in  King 
Philip's  War.  On 
State  Street  was 
fought  a  miniature 
battle  in  January, 
1787,  when  Daniel 
Shays,  an  officer  in 
the  recent  Revolu 
tionary  War,  led  a 
rustic  army  of  1100 
men  to  seize  the 
Springfield  arsenal. 


SPRINGFIELD  MUNICIPAL  GROUP 


46  What  to  See  in  America 

The  city's  municipal  group  with  its  tall  tower  is  exceptionally 
striking  and  interesting.  A  statue  by  Saint  Gaudens  of  a 
typical  Puritan  going  to  church  with  a  big  Bible  under  his 
arm  is  one  of  Springfield's  finest  art  treasures.  The  place 
has  a  United  States  Armory  which  attained  a  daily  output 
of  1000  rifles  in  the  Civil  War. 

Not  far  distant  is  Westfield,  the  "Whip  City,"  whence 
come  90  per  cent  of  all  the  whips  made  in  the  United  States. 
It  is  also  known  as  the  "Pure  Food  Town"  because  of  a 
remarkable  crusade  that  originated  there  to  stop  all  traffic 
in  impure  foodstuffs.  Another  near-by  place  that  has  won  a 
title  of  its  own  is  Holyoke,  the  "Paper  City,"  where  paper 
mills  particularly  abound.  As  we  go  north  we  come  to  the 
pleasant  city  of  Northampton.  Here  is  Smith  College,  and 
within  ten  miles  are  Mt.  Holyoke  College,  Amherst  College, 
and  the  State  Agricultural  College.  In  the  hilly  farming 
country  westerly  the  poet  Bryant  was  born  at  Cummington 
in  1794.  The  house  there  which  he  made  his  summer  home 
in  later  life  still  stands.  Just  across  a  valley  from  Cumming 
ton,  in  Plainfield,  Charles  Dudley  Warner  was  born  in  1829. 
His  "Being  a  Boy"  is  one  of  the  most  entertaining  descrip 
tions  of  old-fashioned  New  England  farm  life  ever  written. 
East  of  Northampton,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Connecticut, 
is  "Old"  Hadley,  the  birthplace  of  "Fighting  Joe  Hooker," 
New  England's  most  notable  general  in  the  Civil  War. 
Here,  in  pioneer  days,  came  two  fugitive  regicides,  Gen. 
GofTe  and  Gen.  Whalley,  who  were  hidden  for  years  in  the 
home  of  the  Hadley  minister.  Once,  when  the  town  was 
attacked  by  Indians  while  the  people  were  at  church,  Gen. 
Goff'e  hurried  to  the  meeting-house,  gave  the  alarm,  and 
directed  the  people  until  the  invaders  had  been  routed. 
Then  he  vanished,  and  for  a  long  time  afterward  the  people 
believed  that  he  was  an  angel  sent  by  God  for  their  deliver 
ance. 


Massachusetts 


47 


Another  valley  town  which  commonly  has  "Old"  before 
its  name  is  Deerficld.  Twice  it  was  practically  wiped  out 
by  Indians,  and  the  second  time  many  of  the  inhabitants  were 
carried  away  captive  to  Canada  in  midwinter.  In  the 
southern  part  of  the  town  is  a  sluggish  rivulet  known  as 
Bloody  Brook  ever  since  several  scores  of  pioneers  were 
slaughtered  there  by  an  ambuscade  of  savages.  At  Turners 
Falls  occurred  another  desperate  battle  with  the  Indians. 
Farther  up  the  river  is  Xorthfield,  which  was  twice  wiped 
out  bv  the  red  men. 


Hoosic  VALLEY  IN  THK  BERKSHIRES 

The  most  beautiful  of  all  the  counties  in  the  state  is  Berk 
shire,  on  its  western  border,  where  mountains  and  tumbled 
lesser  heights  are  omnipresent.  Portions  of  the  county  are 
the  summer  playground  of  millionaires.  Farms  predominate 
in  other  parts,  some  of  them  thrifty,  and  some  of  them  quite 
otherwise.  One  of  its  mountains  is  Greylock,  the  loftiest 


48  What  to  See  in  America 

height  in  the  state,  with  an  altitude  of  3505  feet.  Some 
what  to  the  east  of  Greylock  is  the  Hoosac  Mountain  range, 
which  is  pierced  by  the  Hoosac  Tunnel,  4j  miles  long. 
The  first  train  passed  through  the  tunnel  in  1875.  About 
10  miles  west  of  the  tunnel  is  Williamstown  and  its  famous 
college.  The  chief  street  of  the  place  is  probably  unexcelled 
in  America  for  its  rural  beauty.  A  more  southerly  town  is 
Lanesboro,  the  birthplace  of  one  of  the  best  known  of  our 
humorists,  "Josh  Billings."  At  Stockbridge  the  famous 
colonial  theologian,  Jonathan  Edwards,  settled  in  1751  to 
assist  in  converting  several  hundred  Indians  who  lived  there. 
His  grandson,  the  notorious  Aaron  Burr,  spent  a  part  of  his 
boyhood  in  the  town.  Cyrus  W.  Field,  who  laid  the  first 
telegraph  cable  across  the  Atlantic,  was  born  in  Stockbridge. 
His  father  was  the  minister.  At  one  time  the  vicinity  was 
such  a  resort  of  notable  writers  that  it  wras  called  "a  jungle 
of  literary  lions."  Among  the  rest  was  Hawthorne,  who 
came  in  1850  to  dwell  with  his  family  in  a  little  red  house 
in  Stockbridge  just  over  the  line  from  Lenox.  While  there 
he  wrote  "The  Wonder  Book,"  which  boys  and  girls  have 
read  with  delight  ever  since.  Stockbridge  and  Lenox  are 
both  famous  summer  resort  towns,  and  there  is  not  a  hilltop 
nor  a  valley  in  the  latter  place  but  has  its  splendid  mansions 
and  far-flung  attendant  gardens. 

Massachusetts  people  are  popularly  called  "Bean-eaters" 
from  an  old-fashioned  New  England  habit  of  making  a  regular 
Sunday  meal  of  baked  beans  prepared  on  the  day  before  to 
avoid  Sabbath  labor. 


THE  ANCIENT  GRISTMILL  AT  NEW  LONDON 


V 

Connecticut 

In  the  autumn  of  1033,  men  in  a  little  vessel  from 
Plymouth  sailed  up  the  Connecticut  and  built  a  trading- 
house  at  Windsor.  Within  two  years  settlements  had  been 
started  at  both  Windsor  and  Wethersfield,  and  a  few 
months  later  Hartford  was  founded  by  a  party  of  sixty 
men,  women,  and  children  who  marched  overland  from  the 
vicinity  of  Boston,  driving  their  cattle  and  swine  before 
them.  About  this  time  Lieut.  Lion  Gardiner  with  thirty 
men  built  a  wooden  fort  and  some  houses  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  and  called  the  settlement  Saybrook.  The 
Indians  went  on  the  warpath  in  the  autumn  of  103G  and 
captured  two  Saybrook  men  who  had  gone  out  hunting 
wildfowl,  and  the  cows  sometimes  returned  from  pasture 
with  arrows  sticking  in  their  sides.  The  fort  was  be 
leaguered  through  the  winter.  In  April  the  Pequots  killed 
E  49 


50 


r 


What  to  See  in  America 


nine  of  the  Eng 
lish  at  Wethers- 
field,  and  carried 
away  two  maid 
ens  captive.  This 
roused  the  colony 
to  send  ninety 
men  against  the 
foe.  The  force 
was  accompa 
nied  bv  seventy 

©KalkoffCo.N.Y.        P   .         ,/         -n /r    i 
SAYBROOK  POINT  LIGHT  friendly      Mohe- 

gans  who   made 

a  foray  at  Saybrook  and  brought  in  five  gory  Pequot  heads 
and  one  wretched  prisoner.  The  Mohegans  killed  their 
prisoner  that  night  and  ate  him  while  they  danced  and  sang 
round  a  large  fire  they  had  kindled. 

The  expedition  went  by  water  to  Narragansett  Bay  and 
obtained  the  help  of  two  hundred  local  warriors.  Then  it 
returned  by  land  to  where  four  hundred  or  more  of  the  enemy 
were  in  a  palisaded  fort  on  what  is  still  known  as  Pequot  Hill 
near  the  Mystic  River.  A  night  attack  was  made,  and  the 
assailants  swarmed  into  the  fort  and  set  fire  to  the  wigwams. 
All  the  Indians  except  seven  were  killed  or  burned.  The 
rest  of  the  tribe  concluded  to  emigrate  beyond  the  Hudson. 
They  traveled  along  the  shore  in  order  to  get  a  daily  supply 
of  food  by  digging  shellfish,  and  the  English  followed  them. 
Near  Guilford  a  Pequot  chief  and  some  companions,  when 
closely  pressed  by  their  pursuers,  swam  across  the  harbor 
from  the  cape  on  its  eastern  side.  But  as  they  landed  they 
were  shot  by  some  Mohegans  in  ambush.  The  victors  cut 
off  the  head  of  the  Pequot  chief  and  lodged  it  in  the  branches 
of  an  oak,  where  it  stayed  for  years.  Since  then  the  spot 
has  been  called  "Sachem  Head."  The  fugitives'  power  for 


Connecticut 


51 


mischief  was  finally  destroyed  a  few  miles  west  of  Bridgeport 
where  they  took  refuge  in  a  swamp.  Those  who  were  not 
scattered  or  dispersed  in  the  fight  there  were  captured  and 
made  slaves. 

Tobacco  has  always  been  an  important  Connecticut  crop, 
especially  on  the  fertile  lowlands  where  the  first  settlers 
established  themselves.  Its  cultivation  was  officially  en 
couraged  as  far  back  as  1640,  but  its  use  was  forbidden  to 
any  man  under  twenty-one,  unless  he  obtained  a  certificate 
from  a  physician  that  tobacco  was  good  for  him.  No  one 
was  allowed  to  smoke  or  chew  on  the  streets  or  in  other  public 
places.  The  industrial  importance  of  the  state  is  chiefly  one 
of  manufactures.  Brass  goods  constitute  fully  one-quarter  of 
the  whole  in  value,  and  Waterbury  is  the  most  notable  center 
of  the  industry  in  America.  The  clock  with  brass  works  was 
invented  in  1837,  and  the  excellence  and  cheapness  of 
Connecticut  machine-made  clocks  and  watches  made  them 
favorites  the  world  over.  Tinware  began  to  be  manu 
factured  at  Ber 
lin  in  1740,  and 
a  factory  for 
making  pins  with 
machinery  at  one 
operation  was 
established  at 
Derby  in  1835. 
Thompsonville  is 
famous  for  its 
great  carpet 
mills,  Danbury  is 
America's  lead 
ing  community  for  the  manufacture  of  hats,  Willimantic  is 
known  far  and  wide  for  its  production  of  cotton  thread  and 
sewing  silk,  and  Meriden  is  called  the  "Silver  City"  because 


OUTLET  OF  OLD  WINDSOR  CANAL 


52  What  to  See  in  America 

the  making  of  silver-plated  ware  has  developed  into  such  an 
industry  there.  Near  Meriden  are  the  "Hanging  Hills," 
flat-topped  rocky  heights  the  name  of  which  was  suggested 
by  the  abruptness  of  their  rise  from  the  valley. 

A  promising  vein  of  copper  was  discovered  in  1705  at 
what  is  now  East  Granby,  sixteen  miles  northwest  of  Hart 
ford.  Mining  operations  continued  there  for  nearly  three 
quarters  of  a  century.  In  1773  the  colony  fitted  up  the 
abandoned  mine  for  a  prison.  Its  first  keeper  named  it  New 
gate  after  a  famous  prison  in  London.  Cells  were  prepared 
along  several  galleries,  the  lowest  sixty  feet  from  the  surface. 
It  was  an  uncanny  place.  One  prisoner  was  a  negro  murderer 
who  for  twenty  years  was  kept  chained  to  the  rock  in  the  deep 
est  part  of  the  mine.  He  slept  on  a  low  ledge  and  drank  from 
a  little  pool  near  at  hand.  Some  of  the  prisoners  tramped  the 
revolving  stairway  of  a  treadmill  that  furnished  power  to 
grind  grain.  The  prison  continued  in  use  until  1827.  Even 
now  it  is  a  fascinating  place  to  visit. 

New  Haven,  the  "Elm  City,"  is  the  largest  place  in  the 
state.  It  was  settled  in  1037.  Not  quite  a  quarter  of  a 
century  later  Goffe  and  Whalley,  who  had  been  members 
of  the  court  that  condemned  Charles  I  of  England  to  death, 
arrived  in  New  Haven.  A  price  had  been  put  on  their 
heads,  but  the  people  of  the  town  sheltered  them,  at  first  in 
their  own  homes,  and  then  in  a  cave  on  top  of  West  Rock,  a 
steep  crag  about  two  miles  from  the  town.  Later  the  regicides 
spent  three  years  in  Milford,  and  finally  fled  by  night  to 
Hadley  in  Massachusetts.  New  Haven  is  the  home  of  Yale 
University,  founded  in  1700,  one  of  the  oldest  and  largest 
of  American  educational  institutions.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  Revolution  Benedict  Arnold  was  a  New  Haven  druggist 
and  bookseller. 

The  19th  of  May,  1780,  was  the  famous  "Dark  Day." 
The  Connecticut  Legislature  was  in  session  in  the  old  State 


Connecticut 


53 


House  on  New  Haven  Green  when  the  sudden  darkness  fell. 

Many  believed  the  Judgment  Day  had  arrived.     In  the 

midst  of   the   excitement  

a  motion  was  made  to  ad 
journ.  Then  Col.  Daven 
port  rose,  and  said  :  "  I  am 

against  an   adjournment. 

If  this  is  not  the  Day  of 

Judgment,     there    is    no 

cause  for  adjournment.    If 

it    is,     I     choose    to    he 

found  doing  my  duty.     I 

wish,  therefore,  that  can 
dles  may  be  brought  and 

we  proceed  to  business." 
The  darkness  began  in 

the  middle  of  the  morning 

and  continued  the  rest  of 

the    day.      Persons    were 

unable   to   read   common 

print  or  to  tell  the  time  of  day  by  their  clocks  and  watches. 

The  birds  sang  their  evening  songs  and  became  silent,  and 

the  fowls  retired  to  roost. 

The  New  York  and  New  Haven  Railroad  has  its  main 

offices  and  construction 
and  repair  shops  in  the 
city,  and  gives  support 
to  a  tenth  of  the  people. 
Charles  Goodyear,  the 
inventor,  was  born  at 
New  Haven  in  1800. 
He  spent  ten  years  ex 
perimenting  with  rubber 
THE  GREEN  AT  NEW  HAVEN  to  make  it  available  for 


A  CLOCK  TOWER  IN  A  HARTFORD  PARK 


54  What  to  See  in  America 

waterproof  shoes,  clothing,  and  other  articles  before  he 
attained  success. 

Another  great  industrial  coast  city  is  Bridgeport.  This 
was  the  home  of  P.  T.  Barnum,  who  was  born  at  Bethel, 
about  20  miles  northwest,  in  1810.  His  "Greatest  Show  on 
Earth"  had  a  world-wide  fame,  and  the  successor  to  his 
circus  still  has  its  winter  quarters  in  the  city.  "Gen.  Tom 
Thumb,"  one  of  the  notable  attractions  of  the  Greatest 
Show,  was  born  at  Bridgeport  in  1838.  When  first  exhibited 
he  was  less  than  two  feet  high  and  weighed  sixteen  pounds. 

In  a  rocky  glen  at  New  London  is  a  gristmill  erected  in 
1712.  It  has  a  great  outside  water  wheel  and  continues  to 
grind  as  of  old.  The  town  fared  badly  in  the  Revolution, 
for  in  September,  1781,  Benedict  Arnold,  whose  birthplace 
was  only  fourteen  miles  distant  at  Norwich,  arrived  with  a 
British  fleet,  and  burned  the  town's  dwellings,  warehouses, 
and  shipping. 

The  sheltered  waters  of  Long  Island  Sound  favor  the 
growth  of  oysters,  and  many  people  are  engaged  in  planting 
oyster  beds  and  dredging  for  oysters  along  the  entire  Con 
necticut  coast. 

Hartford,  the  capital  of  the  state,  is  a  great  trading  and 
business  center  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Connecticut. 
It  is  noted  for  its  important  manufactures  and  big  insurance 
companies,  and,  scarcely  less,  for  its  many  parks,  fine  trees, 
and  handsome  residences.  One  of  the  most  famous  episodes 
in  its  history  was  the  attempt  in  1687  of  the  British  colonial 
governor,  Andros,  to  seize  Connecticut's  charter,  which  his 
government  had  concluded  was  too  liberal.  He  came  with 
60  soldiers  to  enforce  his  will,  and  the  colonial  assembly 
met  him  in  the  meeting-house.  Deliberations  had  continued 
into  the  evening,  when  the  candles  were  suddenly  blown  out, 
and  Capt.  Wadsworth  of  Hartford  took  the  charter  from 
the  table  and  hurried  outside,  where  he  hid  the  precious  docu- 


Connecticut 


55 


ment  in  a  big  hollow  oak  tree  near  by.  When  a  new  king 
came  on  to  the  British  throne  two  years  later,  Connecticut 
resumed  its  government  under  the  old  charter.  The  oak 
survived  until  it  was  overthrown  in  1856  by  a  summer  storm. 
Hartford  is  indebted  for  one  of  its  most  important  industries 
to  Samuel  Colt,  who  was  born  there  in  1814.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  he  ran  away  to  sea,  and  while  voyaging  to  India  he 
made  a  wooden  model  of  what  later  became  that  favorite 
weapon,  Colt's  Revolver.  "Mark  Twain,"  the  humorist, 
wrote  most  of  his  notable  books  while  a  Hartford  resident. 

Noah  Webster  of  dictionary  fame  was  born  at  West  Hart 
ford  in  1758.  He  began  work  on  his  dictionary  while  living 
in  New  Haven  forty  years  later,  and  died  in  that  city  at 
the  age  of  85  while  busy  on  a  second  revision.  The  greatest 
of  colonial  theologians,  Jonathan  Edwards,  was  born  in  1703 
at  South  Windsor,  where  his  father  was  the  minister.  He 
was  the  only  boy  among  eleven  children.  The  girls  all  grew 
to  a  height  of  six  feet, 
and  their  father  used 
to  speak  of  them  jocu 
larly  as  his  sixty  feet  of 
daughters.  At  Litchfield 
were  born  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  and  his  sister, 
Harriet  Beecher  Stowe. 
The  latter  taught  school 
in  Hartford  for  a  time, 
and  in  1864  became  a 

permanent  resident  of  that  city.  Only  a  few  miles  north 
east  of  Litchfield,  John  Brown,  the  militant  Abolitionist,  was 
born  in  1800  at  Torrington. 

One  of  Connecticut's  heroes  of  the  R evolution  was  "Old 
Put,"  as  Gen.  Israel  Putnam  was  affectionately  called.  He 
was  born  at  Salem,  Massachusetts,  in  1718,  but  went  as  a 


BEAR  MOUNTAIN,  SALISBURY 


56  What  to  See  in  America 

young  man  with  his  wife  to  what  is  now  the  village  of 
Brooklyn  in  the  eastern  part  of  Connecticut.  Many  sheep 
were  kept  in  the  region,  and  these  suffered  from  the 
ravages  of  a  certain  she-wolf.  Putnam  and  some  neigh 
bors  followed  her  trail  after  a  light  early  fall  of  snow 
to  a  den  in  the  rocks  where  they  attempted  unsuccessfully 
to  smoke  her  out.  Finally,  about  midnight,  Putnam 
descended  into  the  cave  with  a  torch  to  investigate, 
and  shot  the  wolf  dead.  News  of  the  Battle  of  Lex 
ington  reached  Putnam  while  he  was  plowing  with  oxen 
in  an  outlying  field.  .He  promptly  left  the  oxen  in  care 
of  one  of  his  boys,  mounted  a  horse  on  which  he  had  ridden 
to  the  field,  and  dashed  away  toward  Boston.  During  the 
war,  while  at  Greenwich  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the 
state,  he  stationed  some  troops  on  a  steep  hill  near  a  little 
church.  Thence  they  fired  several  well-directed  volleys  at 
a  large  British  foraging  party  and  retired.  But  he  lingered 
until  the  British  cavalrymen  were  close  at  hand,  then  gal 
loped  down  a  path  which  was  so  precipitous  that  not  one 
of  them  dared  make  such  a  hazardous  descent. 

The  martyr  hero,  Nathan  Hale,  was  born  at  Coventry  in 
1755.  When  the  Revolution  began  he  at  once  joined  the 
army  and  soon  attained  the  rank  of  Captain. 

Up  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  state  is  Bear  Mountain, 
the  highest  point  in  Connecticut,  with  an  altitude  of  2355 
feet.  The  name  of  the  state  is  a  combination  of  Indian  words 
which  mean  "the  river  with  the  long  tide."  This  phrase 
refers  to  the  tidal  rise  and  fall  of  the  water  in  New  England's 
longest  river  as  far  as  the  Enfield  Falls  above  Hartford. 
Popular  nicknames  for  the  state  are  the  "Land  of  Steady 
Habits"  and  the  "Wooden  Nutmeg  State."  The  latter  was 
bestowed  because  of  its  inhabitants  having  such  a  reputation 
for  shrewdness  that  they  were  jocosely  accused  of  palming  off 
wooden  nutmegs  on  unsuspecting  buyers. 


SHEEP  NEAR  NEWPORT 

VI 

Rhode  Island 

"Little  Rhody"  is  the  smallest  state  in  the  Union,  and  it  is 
the  most  thickly  populated.  There  are  more  than  five  hun 
dred  persons  to  the  square  mile,  while  Nevada  has  less  than 
one  to  the  square  mile.  The  settlement  of  the  state  was 
begun  in  1636  by  that  famous  Puritan  preacher,  Roger 
Williams,  whose  preaching  at  Salem  had  aroused  such 
opposition  that  he  had  been  banished  from  the  colony. 
To  escape  his  persecutors  he  left  home  at  night  in  midwinter 
and  fled  alone  through  the  deep  snow  to  his  Indian  friend, 
Massasoit,  with  whom  he  stayed  until  spring.  Then  he  and 
five  of  his  Salem  flock  made  their  way  to  Rhode  Island  and 
started  a  settlement  which  they  called  Providence.  This  is 
now  the  capital  of  the  state,  and  the  largest  city  in  New 
England  except  Boston.  The  sea  cuts  deeply  into  Rhode 
Island,  and  there  are  good  harbors  near  the  falls  on  the 
streams  that  empty  into  the  upper  end  of  Narragansett  Bay. 
The  combination  of  abundant  water  power  and  a  convenient 

57 


58 


What  to  See  in  America 


situation  for  sending  and  receiving  goods  both  by  water  and 
by  land,  has  resulted  in  developing  a  manufacturing  com 
munity  that  for  its  size  is  unrivaled  in  the  value  of  its  prod 
uct.  The  first  successful  cotton  mill  in  America  was 
started  at  Pawtucket  in  1790.  In  this  same  vicinity  are  now 
some  of  the  largest  cotton  mills  in  the  world. 

Among  the  leaders  in  the  Revolution  the  general  who, 
next  to  Washington,  did  his  country  the  greatest  service, 
was  Nathanael  Greene.  He  was  born  in  1742  at  Warwick, 
10  miles  south  of  Providence.  Twenty  miles  farther  down 
the  shore  of  the  bay,  at  North  Kingston,  was  born  in  1756 
Gilbert  Stuart,  one  of  the  greatest  of  American  painters, 
whose  portraits  of  Washington  and  other  distinguished 

Americans  could  hardly 
be  surpassed  in  lifelike- 
ness  and  charm  of  color. 
South  Kingston  was 
the  birthplace  of  Oliver 
Hazard  Perry,  com 
mander  of  our  fleet  in 
the  famous  Battle  of 
Lake  Erie  in  the  War  of 
1812. 

Among  Rhode  Island's 
important  summer  re 
sorts  are  Newport,  Nar- 
ragansett  Pier,  Watch 
Hill,  and  Block  Island. 
The  first  is  the  most  fa 
mous  fashionable  resort 
in  America.  It  is  on  an 

island  in  Narragansett  Bay.  The  Indian  name  for  the  Is 
land  was  Aquidneck,  which  means  the  " Isle  of  Peace."  It 
is  about  15  miles  long,  but  for  the  most  part  very  narrow. 


THE  OLD  NEWPORT  MILL 


Rhode  Island 


59 


THE  STATE  HOUSE,  PROVIDENCE 


The  early  settlers  called  it  Rhode  Island,  probably  because 
it  was  in  a  bay  that  furnished  good  anchorages.  The  word 
rhode,  or  r-o-a-d, 
as  it  is  more  cor 
rectly  spelled,  is 
used  by  sailors 
to  designate  just 
such  an  anchor 
ing  place.  Aquid- 
neck's  first  set 
tlers  came  in 
1636  as  the  re 
sult  of  a  violent 
theological  dis 
pute  in  Boston  caused  by  the  teachings  of  Mrs.  Anne 
Hutchinson. 

Newport  first  won  fame  as  a  slave  port  —  the  greatest  in 
America.     For  a  long  time  its  ships  carried  1800  hogsheads 

of  rum  annually 
to  Africa  to  be 
exchanged  for 
negroes,  gold 
dust,  and  ivory. 
Slaves  were 
owned  for  do 
mestic  servants 
by  every  well- 
to-do  family  in 
the  town.  At 
the  beginning  of 
the  Revolution 
Newport  was  commercially  more  important  than  New  York. 
The  British  occupied  it  for  three  years  and  left  it  only  a  shadow 
of  its  former  self.  Nor  did  it  recover  until  the  middle  of 


ON  THE  SEAWARD  SLOPE  OF  MT.  HOPE 


60 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  next  century,  when  a  wave  of  fashion  swept  into  the  old 
place.  Its  attractions  were  a  salubrious  climate  without  ex 
tremes  of  heat  or  cold  the  year  through,  wide  ocean  prospects 

from  its  cliffs, 
extensive  bath 
ing  beaches,  and 
a  delightful  his 
toric  afterglow. 
In  one  of  the 
city  parks  is  the 
famous  "Old 
Stone  Mill," 
which  was  prob- 

BlRTHPLACE  OF  GILBERT  STUART,  NORTH  KINGSTON 

erected   by   an 

early  governor  about  1675,  but  which  some  claim  was  built 
by  the  Norsemen  hundreds  of  years  before  Columbus  dis 
covered    America.     Longfellow,   in    his   well-known   poem, 
"The    Skeleton   in         ___ 
Armor,"  makes  it  the 
home  of  a  bold  Norse 
sailor  and  his  bride. 
When  the  lady  died 
the  husband    buried 
her  under  the  stone 
tower  and  killed  him 
self  by  falling  on  his 
spear. 

A  little  beyond  the 

north  end  of  Aquid-  A  NEWPOKT  MANSION 

neck,  on  a  mainland 

peninsula,  is  Mt.  Hope,  the  dwelling-place  of  that  most 
famous  of  New  England  Indians,  King  Philip.  His  village 
was  at  the  foot  of  a  rude  crag  where  there  was  a  good  spring, 


Rhode  Island  61 

and  where  it  was  sheltered  from  the  rough  northwest  winds. 
He  began  his  war  against  the  whites  in  1675,  and  many  an 
exposed  English  village  was  wiped  out,  and  hundreds  of 
settlers'  lives  were  sacrificed.  Late  that  year  the  greatest 
battle  of  the  war  was  fought  in  the  southern  part  of  Rhode 
Island,  not  far  from  Kingston,  where  nearly  2000  Indians, 
including  women  and  children,  had  taken  refuge  on  a  pali 
saded  piece  of  rising  ground  "in  the  middle  of  a  hideous 
swamp."  There  they  were  assailed  by  1100  whites  and  150 
friendly  Indians  in  a  snowstorm  on  December  19.  The 
stronghold  was  destroyed,  many  of  the  savages  were  killed 
or  perished  in  the  flames,  and  the  rest  were  fugitives  in  the 
winter  woods.  The  next  summer,  while  Philip  with  a  few 
followers  was  encamped  near  Mt.  Hope,  the  whites  surprised 
and  slew  him,  and  the  spot  where  he  fell  has  been  marked  by 
a  stone. 

Twelve  miles  off  the  coast  is  that  popular  resort,  Block 
Island,  about  eight  miles  long  and  three  wide.  It  gets  its 
name  from  Adrian  Block,  a  Dutch  navigator  who  visited  it 
in  1614.  When  the  first  English  families  settled  on  the 
island  a  half  century  later,  there  were  about  four  hundred 
Indian  inhabitants.  The  island  has  one  great  pond  and 
ninety-nine  small  ones.  The  largest  stream  is  only  a  rivulet. 
A  curious  tradition  of  the  island  is  that  of  the  "Dancing 
Mortar."  This  mortar  was  a  section  of  a  tree  fourteen  inches 
long  and  ten  in  diameter,  and  hollowed  out  at  one  end  so 
that  corn  could  be  pounded  into  meal  with  a  stone  pestle. 
After  the  original  owner  died  the  mortar  won  fame  by  dancing 
around  the  room.  It  would  throw  itself  on  its  side  and  roll 
to  and  fro,  then  right  itself  and  hop  up  from  the  floor  several 
times  in  succession,  and  perform  various  other  strange 
antics.  The  first  Block  Island  hotel  was  opened  in  1842, 
but  not  until  thirty  years  later  did  the  island  develop  into 
the  popular  summering  place  it  has  now  become. 


62 


What  to  See  in  America 


The  highest  point  in  Rhode  Island  is  Durfee  Hill,  which 
rises  eight  hundred  and  five  feet  above  the  sea  level  on  the 
northwestern  border  of  the  state.  The  people  are  popularly 
called  "Gunflints/'  a  name  applied  because  of  the  common 
use  of  gunflint  muskets  taken  from  garrets  in  the  Dorr  Re 
bellion  of  1842. 


1 


MOH^GAN  BLUFFS,  BLOCK  ISLAND 


\       X 


THE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY 

VII 

New  York  City 

In  1614  a  few  Dutch  traders  established  themselves  on  Man 
hattan  Island,  and  twelve  years  later  the  entire  island  was 
bought  from  the  Indians  for  trinkets  worth  $24,  a  sum  that 
is  less  than  one  tenth  of  what  has  been  paid  in  recent  years 
for  a  single  square  foot.  The  name  of  the  island  is  an 
Indian  word  which  means  the  "Place  of  the  Whirlpool," 
and  refers  to  the  rushing  tumult  of  the  waters  at  Hell  Gate. 
The  city  continued  to  be  all  on  the  island  until  1874,  when 
the  Harlem  was  crossed.  In  1898  its  limits  were  enlarged  to 
include  Brooklyn,  Staten  Island,  and  the  Bronx.  This 
raised  the  population  to  more  than  3,000,000,  or  about  half 
that  of  the  entire  state.  New  York  to-day  is  the  largest 
city  on  the  globe,  the  greatest  industrial  city,  and  contains 
the  loftiest  buildings.  It  is  the  melting  pot  of  nations.  People 
from  all  over  the  world  have  come  there  to  make  their  homes, 
and  many  strange  languages  are  spoken. 

63 


64  What  to  See  in  America 

On  Bedloes  Island,  in  the  harbor,  the  Statue  of  Liberty 
greets  and  welcomes  every  incoming  ship.  The  idea  of  this 
colossal  statue  originated  with  the  French  sculptor,  Bar- 
tholdi,  in  1871,  and  the  people  of  his  country  subscribed  more 
than  $250,000  to  pay  for  it,  that  they  might  present  it  to  our 
nation.  They  desired  that  this  gigantic  statue  representing 
Liberty  enlightening  the  World  should  stand  "on  the 
threshold  of  the  New  World  in  the  unequaled  harbor  of  New 
York."  It  was  dedicated  in  1886.  No  other  statue  is  so 
high.  To  the  top  of  the  torch  is  151  feet.  The  thumb  is 
twelve  feet  in  circumference.  Inside  are  elevators  and  stair 
ways  for  ascent  into  the  head,  which  can  accommodate  forty 
persons  at  a  time.  The  torch  and  diadem  are  lighted  by 
electricity.  The  statue  is  composed  of  300  bronze  plates 
that  average  in  weight  three  quarters  of  a  ton. 

At  the  southern  tip  of  Manhattan  Island  is  a  small  park 
called  the  Battery.  The  name  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  when  the  town  had  been  settled  about  seventy-five  years 
rumors  of  war  between  France  and  England  caused  the  New 
Yorkers  to  build  a  platform  on  the  rocks  that  jutted  out 
of  the  water  in  the  vicinity,  and  to  place  there  a  battery  that 
would  command  the  waterways  on  both  sides.  The  low, 
circular,  widespreading  building  on  the  Battery  now  used 
as  an  aquarium  was  originally  erected  to  protect  the  city 
in  the  War  of  1812.  It  was  called  Fort  Clinton.  The  rocks 
on  which  it  was  built  were  so  far  from  the  shore  that  it 
was  reached  by  a  bridge  two  hundred  feet  long.  In  1822  the 
fort  was  turned  into  a  place  of  public  amusement  under  the 
name  of  Castle  Garden.  Here  Lafayette  was  entertained  as 
the  guest  of  the  nation  in  1824,  and  here  were  held  great 
political  meetings  at  which  Daniel  Webster  and  other 
notable  orators  and  statesmen  appeared.  In  1847  it  became 
one  of  the  most  important  playhouses  of  New  York,  with  a 
seating  capacity  of  over  6000.  Three  years  later  Jenny 


New  York  Citv 


65 


THE  AQUARIUM  ON  THE  BATTERY 


Lind,  the  "Swedish 
Nightingale,"  made 
her  debut  on  its 
stage.  After  the 
golden  period  of 
music  and  drama  the 
building  served  as 
an  immigrant  depot 
from  1855  to  1891, 
when  it  was  trans 
formed  into  an  aqua 
rium. 

The  oldest  city  thoroughfare  is  Pearl  Street.  In  the  early 
days  it  was  right  at  the  water  front,  and  on  the  landward  side 
was  a  straggling  row  of  quaint  Dutch  houses.  Where  this 
street  is  joined  by  Broad  Street  stands  the  oldest  landmark 
in  the  city,  Fraunces's  Tavern,  erected  in  1739.  Here 

Washington  took  leave 
of  his  officers  at  the  close 
of  the  Revolution. 

Not  a  single  building 
has  come  down  to  us 
from  the  Dutch  period, 
but  we  at  least  have 
that  bit  of  park  —  Bow 
ling  Green  —  which  lay 
immediately  in  front  of 
Fort  Amsterdam.  Be 
tween  the  high  buildings 

IB  «3K3Tf*  on  tne  west  side  of  Broad- 

m  way,  at  No.  55,  is  a  nar 

row  passage  that  used  to 
be  called  Tin  Pot  Alley. 

WALL  STREET  AND  TRINITY  CHURCH         Marketfield  Street,  which 

p 


66 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  Produce  Exchange 
now  almost  covers,  was 
known  as  Petticoat 
Lane,  because  it  con 
tained  the  residences 
of  some  of  the  people 
of  fashion.  The  pres 
ent  Nassau  Street  was 
Pie-womans  Lane.  A 
one-time  respectable 
dweller  on  Liberty 
Street  was  Capt.  Kidd, 
whose  enduring  fame 
is  unrivaled  among  all 
the  freebooters  who 
terrorized  the  sea. 

Wall  Street,  which 
the  towering  buildings 
on  either  side  have 
made  a  narrow  canyon, 
is  the  financial  center  of  the  United  States,  and  here  is  the 
Stock  Exchange,  the  world's  greatest  market  for  stocks, 
bonds,  and  securities.  There  is  a  notable  statue  of  Wash 
ington  that  stands,  as  the  poet  Stedman  says, 

"Just  where  the  Treasury's  marble  front 

Looks  over  Wall  Street's  mingled  nations; 
Where  Jews  pnd  Gentiles  most  ar*e  wont 

To  throng  for  trade  and  last  quotations; 
Where  hour  by  hour  the  rates  of  gold 

Outrival  in  the  ears  of  people 
The  quarter  chimes,  serenely  tolled, 

From  Trinity's  undaunted  steeple." 

This  Sub-Treasury  is  on  the  site  of  Federal  Hall  in  which 
assembled  the  first  American  Congress,  and  in  which  Wash- 


it 

n  if  ij 
it  11 « 

It  II  15 


THE  MUNICIPAL  BUILDING 


New  York  City 


67 


ington  took  the  oath  of  office  after  his  first  election  to  the 
presidency.  Wall  Street  gets  its  name  from  a  palisaded 
wall  built  across  the  island  there  at  the  northern  limit  of 
the  city  in  1652. 

At  the  head  of  Wall  Street  on  Broadway  is  Trinity  Church, 
with  its  quaint  churchyard  full  of  crumbling  gravestones. 
It  was  founded  in  1696,  but  the  present  building  dates  back 
only  to  1846.  Xo  other  church  society  in  America  equals 
that  of  Trinity  in  wealth.  Among  the  famous  persons  buried 
in  the  churchyard  are  Alexander 
Hamilton  and  Robert  Fulton. 
In  pioneer  days  a  man  named 
Van  Dyck  had  a  peach  orchard 
near  this  spot.  One  September 
night  in  1655  he  fired  his  gun  at 
an  Indian  girl  who  was  stealing 
peaches  from  the  trees  and  killed 
her.  That  roused  the  savages  to 
seek  revenge,  and  in  the  warfare 
that  ensued  over  one  hundred 
settlers  lost  their  lives,  and  a 
great  deal  of  property  was  de 
stroyed. 

Another  orchard  of  tragic  fame 
was  one  bordering  on  Maiden 
Lane.  Some  discontented  slaves 
met  there  in  1712  and  set  fire  to 
an  outhouse.  When  the  citizens 
ran  to  extinguish  the  flames,  the 
blacks  fired  on  them,  killing  nine 
and  wounding  six.  Great  ex 
citement  ensued,  the  soldiers  were 
called  out,  and  twenty-one  slaves 
were  captured.  All  the  captives  WOOLWOBTH  BUILDING 


68  What  to  See  in  America 

were  executed,  some  by  hanging,  some  by  burning  at  the 
stake,  while  others  were  suspended  in  chains  and  left  to  starve. 

A  short  distance  up  Broadway  from  Trinity  Church  is  St. 
Paul's  Chapel,  which  was  begun  in  1756  and  is  the  oldest 
church  edifice  in  New  York.  Less  than  a  week  after  the 
invading  British  came  in  1776,  a  fire  swept  away  a  great 
part  of  the  western  side  of  the  city,  including  Trinity  Church. 
But  St.  Paul's  was  saved,  and  here  the  English  commander 
and  many  soldiers  of  the  king  attended  service.  When  the 
American  forces  again  occupied  the  city  Washington  wor 
shipped  in  this  church,  and  later,  while  he  was  in  New  York 
as  chief  magistrate  of  the  nation,  he  regularly  made  this 
entry  in  his  diary  each  Sunday,  "Went  to  St.  Paul's  Chapel 
in  the  forenoon."  One  of  the  graves  in  the  churchyard 
is  that  of  George  Backer  who  killed  Philip,  the  oldest  of 
Alexander  Hamilton's  eight  children,  not  quite  twenty  years 
of  age,  in  a  duel  in  November,  1801,  just  where  the  great 
statesman  himself  was  killed  a  few  years  later.  The  quarrel 
grew  out  of  a  Fourth  of  July  speech  by  Eacker  in  praise  of 
Burr  and  reflecting  on  Alexander  Hamilton. 

Near  by  is  the  Equitable  Building,  the  largest  office  build 
ing  in  the  world.  On  its  forty  floors  are  2300  offices,  which 
are  the  business  home  of  15,000  people.  The  Equitable 
Building  that  preceded  this  one  on  the  same  site  was  de 
stroyed  by  a  great  fire  in  January,  1912. 

Washington  Irving  was  born  at  131  William  Street,  in  a 
two-story  house  between  John  and  Fulton  streets  in  1783.  He 
was  the  youngest  of  eleven  children. 

One  of  New  York's  really  handsome  older  buildings  is 
the  City  Hall,  begun  in  1803,  and  completed  nine  years  later. 
When  the  site  was  chosen,  a  person  would  have  been  con 
sidered  a  wild  dreamer  who  expected  the  city  to  spread 
farther  than  that  uptown.  It  therefore  faced  the  city  lying 
below  it,  and  the  back  toward  the  open  country  was  con- 


New  York  City 


69 


WASHINGTON  ARCH  AT  LOWER  END  OF 
FIFTH  AVENUE 


structed  of  sandstone,  in 
stead  of  marble  like  the 
rest,  and  left  plain  and 
unornamented.  In  1890 
this  sandstone  was  painted 
white. 

When  the  Stamp  Act 
was  to  go  into  operation 
on  November  1,  1765,  a 
secret  association  known 
as  the  Sons  of  Liberty 

assembled  that  evening  with  torchlights  on  the  Common, 

as  City  Hall  Park  was  then  called,  and  hung  on  a  gallows 

two  stuffed  figures,  one  of  the  devil  and  the  other  of  the 

British  official  who  had  the 

stamps  in  his  charge.     The 

next    June    they    erected    a 

flagpole    on    the    Common. 

This  and  several  successive 

poles  were  cut  down  by  the 

soldiers,  and  finally,  in  Jan 
uary,    1770,   when  the   pole 

was  not  only  cut  down  but 

sawed  into  pieces,  a  bloody 

fight    ensued    between    the 

people  and  the  redcoats  on 

a   hill   where    now   is    John 

Street.     That  same  year  the 

Stamp  Act  was  repealed,  and 

the    New    Yorkers    showed 

their  gratitude  by  erecting  in 

Bowling     Green     a     leaden 

statue  of    King   George   on 

horseback.       July     9,      1776,  THE  FLATIRON  BUILDING 


70 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  read  on  the  Common 
to  the  American  army  in  the  presence  of  George  Washington. 
After  the  reading  ended,  the  patriot  troops  gathered  at 
Bowling  Green  and  pulled  down  the  king's  statue,  which  was 
later  made  into  bullets  for  their  use. 

In  front  of  the  City  Hall  is  a  tablet  sunk  into  the  pave 
ment  inscribed  with  the  fact  that  there,  March  24,  1900,  the 
mayor  made  the  first  excavation  for  the  underground  rail 
way. 

Most  of  the  city  business  is  transacted  in  the  neighboring 
Municipal  Building,  which  ranks  among  the  noblest  of  New 
York's  skyscrapers. 

The  Woolworth  Building,  fronting  on  the  western  side 
of  the  park,  is  the  tallest  office  building  in  the  world.  Indeed, 
no  structure  built  by  man  is  higher  except  the  Eiffel  Tower 
in  Paris.  Its  height  above  the  sidewalk  is  785  feet,  and  its 

lowest  foundation  on 
the  solid  rock  of  the 
island  is  120  feet  be 
low  the  sidewalk.  Its 
cost  was  $12,000,000. 
The  man  whose  name 
it  bears  started  a  five- 
cent  store  in  Utica, 
New  York,  in  1873. 
When  he  died  in  1919 
he  had  thousands  of 
five  and  ten  cent 
stores  and  employed 
more  people  than  any 
other  one  man  in  the 
world. 

As  we  go  north  from 
MADISON  SQUARE  the  City  Hall  we  come 


New  York  City 


71 


ST.  PATRICK'S  CATHEDRAL,  FIFTH  AVENUE 


to  Canal  Street,  so 
named  because  origi 
nally  quite  a  deep  stream 
flowed  there  to  the 
Hudson  from  a  pond 
well  back  on  the  island. 
The  Indians  paddled 
up  and  down  the  stream 
in  their  canoes,  and 
when  the  city  expanded 
that  far,  pavements 
were  laid  on  both  sides, 
and  trees  and  flowers 
were  planted  along  it. 

At  10th  Street,  on 
Broadway,  is  Grace 
Church,  one  of  the  most 
famous  and  architec 
turally  attractive  of  New  York's  ecclesiastical  structures. 

Just  east  of  Union  Square  on  14th  Street  is  Tammany 
Hall,  the  headquarters  of  a  society  which  was  organized  for 
benevolent  purposes,  but  soon  developed  into  a  strong 
political  institution.  The  society  took  its  name  from  an 
Indian  chief  of  the  pioneer  period,  and  the  officers  bear  the 
title  of  sachems,  and  call  their  hall  a  wigwram.  The  first 
meeting  was  held  on  May  12th,  St.  Tammany's  Day,  in 
1789. 

Peter  Stuyvesant,  the  most  picturesque  of  the  Dutch 
rulers  of  New  Amsterdam,  had  a  country  place  in  the  vicinity 
of  14th  Street.  It  extended  from  4th  Avenue  to  the  East 
River,  and  was  known  as  the  "Great  Bouwerie."  To  this 
farm  he  retired  after  New  York  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  English,  and  there  peacefully  dwelt  till  he  died  in  1672. 
A  village  was  formed  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  farm,  and  a 


72  What  to  See  in  America 

country  path  connected  it  with  the  city.  Later  the  path 
was  made  into  a  carriage  road  and  extended  to  Harlem.  It 
was  called  Bowery  Lane.  Gradually  it  developed  into  one 
of  the  most  important  highways  of  Manhattan  Island,  and 
was  a  favorite  drive  for  fashionable  people,  especially  when 
there  was  sleighing  in  winter. 

The  first  street  railway  in  America  began  operating  in 
November,  1832,  between  the  City  Hall  and  14th  Street. 
Both  of  New  York's  great  railway  stations  —  the  Grand 
Central  at  4th  Avenue  and  42d  Street,  and  the  Pennsylvania 
at  7th  Avenue  and  33d  Street  —  are  as  notable  for  their 
architecture  as  for  their  size.  The  latter  has  perhaps  the 
most  imposing  interior  of  any  commercial  building  on  the 
globe.  The  first  railway  passenger  station  in  the  city  was 
at  Chambers  Street  and  College  Place,  to  which  point  the 
cars  were  drawn  by  horses  from  13th  Street  and  llth  Avenue. 

Washington  Square,  at  the  lower  end  of  5th  Avenue,  is 
laid  out  on  the  site  of  an  old  burial  ground.  At  the  entrance 
to  the  Avenue  is  the  splendid  Washington  Centennial  Arch. 
Fifth  Avenue  is  New  York's  chief  street  from  the  standpoint 
of  wealth  and  fashion.  Electric  cars  have  never  been 
allowed  to  invade  it,  and  the  main  means  of  public  con 
veyance  is  the  omnibus.  A  bus  ride,  with  a  seat  on  top,  is 
the  ideal  way  to  view  the  resplendent  stores  of  its  business 
section  and  the  magnificent  homes  of  the  millionaires  far 
ther  up. 

Morse,  whose  invention  of  the  telegraph  has  obscured  the 
fact  that  he  was  also  a  famous  painter,  was  a  long  time 
resident  at  5  West  22d  Street  and  there  died.  He  spent  five 
years  experimenting  in  his  studio  before  he  perfected  the 
telegraphic  instrument  and  alphabet,  and  seven  years  more 
passed  before  he  was  able  to  overcome  public  derision  and 
skepticism  sufficiently  to  get  an  experimental  line  built. 

The  Flatiron  Building  at  Madison  Square,  so  called  on 


New  York  City 


73 


account  of  its  shape,  is  twenty  stories  high.  It  has  a  curious 
effect  in  increasing  the  violence  of  the  wind  at  its  apex,  so 
that  during  gales  people  sometimes 
have  been  whirled  off  the  sidewalk 
and  neighboring  plate  glass  shop- 
windows  have  been  smashed.  The 
tower  of  the  enormous  Metropolitan 
Life  Insurance  Building  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Square  has  forty  stories 
and  a  height  of  693  feet.  Close  by 
is  another  beautiful  tower  —  that  of 
Madison  Square  Garden.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  Square  is  Saint 
Gaudens'  Farragut,  one  of  the  finest 
statues  in  New  York. 

Just  east  of  5th  Avenue  on  29th 
Street  is  what  is  known  as  "The 
Little  Church  Round  the  Corner," 
so  named  because  of  the  refusal  of 
the  rector  of  a  neighboring  church  to  officiate  at  the  funeral 
of  an  actor  and  his  suggestion  that  "  the  little  church  round 
the  corner"  might  be  willing  to  conduct  the  service.  At 
33d  Street  is  the 
huge  Waldorf-As 
toria  Hotel,  and  a 
few  streets  farther 
north  the  dignified 
white  marble  Public 
Library.  Another 
famous  white  marble 
structure  is  St.  Pat 
rick's  Cathedral  at 

51st  Street,  the  largest  and  most  beautiful  Gothic  church  in 
America.     It  was  begun  in  1850  and  completed  in  1879. 


CLEOPATRA'S  NEEDLE  IN 
CENTRAL  PARK 


74 


What  to  See  in  America 


COLUMBIA  LIBRARY 


rThe  city's  the 
aters  congregate 
_  *   «  hj**      mm  thickest    at   42d 

Street,  and  it  is 
there  that  Broad 
way  is  to  a  most 
marked   degree 
the  "Great  White 
Way"   when  re 
splendent  at  night 
with    dazzling 
electric    signs 
and  other  lights. 
In  the  vicinity  of  3d  Avenue  and  63d  Street  Nathan  Hale, 
the  patriot  spy,  was  hanged  on  an  apple  tree,  September  22, 
1776. 

Central  Park,  the  great  promenade  and  open-air  resort  of 
New  York,  was  laid  out  in  1856.  It  extends  from  59th  to 
110th  Street,  is  a  half  mile  wide,  and  covers  840  acres. 
The  ground  has  been  transformed  from  a  tract  of  swamp  and 
rock  into  a  park  famous  for  its  varied  beauty.  On  the  east 
side,  at  64th  Street,  is  a  Zoological  Garden  that  most  visitors 
enjoy,  especially  in  winter,  when  a  number  of  menageries 
temporarily  leave  their  animals  there.  On  the  same  side 
of  the  park,  at  82d  Street,  is  the  Metropolitan  Musuem  of 
Art.  A  knoll  west  of  the  Museum  is  occupied  by  Cleopatra's 
Needle,  an  Egyptian  obelisk,  sixty -nine  feet  high,  from  Alex 
andria,  presented  by  the  khedive  to  the  city  in  1877.  It  dates 
back  to  about  1500  B.C.,  several  centuries  before  the  time  of 
Moses.  •  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  park,  at  77th  Street,  is 
the  Museum  of  Natural  History. 

Riverside  Drive,  a  narrow  hillside  strip  along  the  Hudson 
from  72d  to  127th  Street,  affords  interesting  views  of  the 
river,  and  its  highway  is  one  of  the  finest  possessed  by 


New  York  City 


75 


any  city.  Near  its  north  end  is  Grant's  Tomb,  and  on  the 
neighboring  upland,  at  12()th  Street,  the  main  fight  in  the 
Battle  of  Harlem  Heights  occurred  in  a  buckwheat  field, 
September  16,  1776.  This  vicinity  has  been  the  site  of 
Columbia  University  since  1897.  The  University  library 
is  a  particularly  impressive  building. 

All  the  section  from  138th  to  145th  Street  near  Amsterdam 
Avenue  was  once  owned  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  there 
he  lived  in  what  was  a  grand  homestead  then.  The  house 
occupied  by  Audubon,  the  naturalist,  in  his  last  years  is  at 
the  foot  of  155th  Street  beside  the  river.  When  a  com 
mission  laid  out  streets  and  avenues  up  to  155th  Street  in 
1807  it  apologized  for  doing  so  much  "laying  out,"  and 

acknowledged  that  prob 
ably  not  for  centuries 
would  most  of  these 
streets  be  occupied. 

On  Harlem  Heights  at 
169th  Street  is  the  Jumel 
Mansion  built  in  1758  by 
an  English  colonel  who 
married  an  American  wife 
that  year.  At  the  time 
of  the  Revolution  he 
went  to  England,  and  the 
property  was  confiscated. 
The  house  was  Wash 
ington's  headquarters  for 
three  months  in  1776, 
and  for  the  rest  of  the 
war  was  occupied  by  the 
Hessian  Gen.  Knyphau- 

sen.     Then  it  was  a  tav- 
BATTLEGROUND  MONUMENT  AT  FORT 

WASHINGTON  ern  for  several  years,  but 


76 


What  to  See  in  America 


in  1810  was  purchased  by  Stephen  Jumel,  who  had  acquired 
wealth  as  a  coffee  planter  in  San  Domingo.  He  married 
the  daughter  of  an  American  sea  captain  in  1804.  She  was 
a  youthful  widow  who  had  eloped  at  the  age  of  seventeen  to 
marry  her  first  husband.  For  a  time  the  Jumels  lived  in 
Paris  where  she  became  a  leader  of  fashion ;  and  she  made 

I__:^IIMM  their  New  York 
mansion  famous  for 
the  society  she  gath 
ered  round  her  there. 
In  1832,  a  year  after 
Mr.  Jumel's  death, 
she  married  in  the 
drawing-room  of  this 
historic  house  Aaron 
Burr,  then  seventy- 
eight  years  old ;  but 
she  soon  tired  of 
him,  turned  him 
out  of  doors,  and 
dropped  his  name. 
She  continued  to 
dwell  in  the  old 
house  until  she  died 
in  1865  at  the  age 

of  ninety-six.  The  mansion  now  belongs  to  the  Daughters 
of  the  American  Revolution. 

Between  182d  and  186th  streets,  on  the  highest  point 
of  the  island,  with  the  Hudson  on  one  side  and  the  Harlem 
on  the  other,  formerly  stood  Fort  Washington.  The  British 
captured  it  after  the  Battle  of  Harlem  Heights. 

East  of  the  Harlem  River  at  Fordham,  in  Kingsbridge 
Road,  is  a  cottage  that  was  the  home  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe 
from  1844  to  1849.  One  of  the  attractions  of  this  part  of 


BROOKLYN  BRIDGE 


New  York  City 


77 


the  city  is  Bronx 
Park.  At  the 
north  end  are 
the  Botanical 
Gardens,  and  at 
the  south  end 
are  260  acres 
where  various  of 
the  larger  North 
American  quad 
rupeds  have  been 


SOLDIERS'    AND    SAILORS'    ARCH,    BROOKLYN 


placed  in  surroundings  that  resemble  their  natural  haunts. 
The  bison,  for  instance,  have  a  range  of  fifteen  acres,  and  the 
deer  eight  acres.  Another  feature  of  the  Zoo  is  a  granite 
bowlder  weighing  thirty  tons,  so  balanced  that  it  can  be 

moved  easily  by  hand. 
In  the  East  River, 
north  of  Blackwells 
Island,  is  Hell  Gate, 
where  the  waterway 
makes  a  sharp  bend 
and  surges  through  a 
narrow  rocky  channel. 
Sunken  reefs  made  it 
highly  dangerous  until 
they  were  blasted  out. 
Of  the  several  bridges 
across  the  East  River 
the  first  has  never  been 
excelled  in  interest  and 
grace.  It  was  begun  in 
1870  and  completed  in 
1883  at  a  cost  of  nearly 
IN  PROSPECT  PARK  $15,000,000.  For  a  long 


78  What  to  See  in  America 

time  it  was  unrivaled  among  the  world's  suspension  bridges. 
Its  total  length,  including  approaches,  is  over  a  mile.  The 
gigantic  stone  piers  rise  270  feet  above  high  water.  Four 
16-inch  steel  wire  cables  serve  to  support  the  long  span  of 
the  85-foot-wide  bridge. 

Brooklyn  may  be  said  to  have  begun  in  1642  when  a 
ferry  was  established  between  it  and  lowrer  New  York.  A 
tiny  hamlet  that  clustered  about  the  landing  gradually 
expanded,  but  the  place  continued  essentially  rural  for  a  long 
period.  In  1759  a  large  bear  visited  the  farms  in  South 
Brooklyn  and  was  pursued  to  the  vicinity  of  Red  Hook, 
where  he  took  to  the  water  and  was  shot  from  a  boat.  In  1774 
a  church  established  under  the  patronage  of  Trinity  of  New 
York  was  built  with  the  aid  of  a  lottery.  Horse  races  were 
run  in  Brooklyn  then,  and  an  innkeeper  on  Columbia 
Heights  announced  a  bull-baiting  there  every  Thursday 
afternoon. 

One  of  the  greatest  battles  of  the  Revolution  was  fought 
in  the  present  heart  of  the  city  on  August  27,  1776.  The 
Americans  lost  2000  in  killed  and  wounded  and  1100  in 
prisoners,  and  on  the  night  of  the  28th,  aided  by  a  dense  fog, 
withdrew  across  the  East  River.  Every  manner  of  craft 
—  yacht,  scow,  and  rowboat  —  was  pressed  into  service, 
manned  by  fishermen  and  sailors  from  Salem  and  Marble- 
head,  and  Washington  superintended  the  embarkation. 

Brooklyn  contains  fully  six  hundred  religious  edifices  and  is 
popularly  known  as  the  "  City  of  Churches."  It  is  also  called 
the  "Dormitory  of  New  York,"  so  many  of  its  residents  are 
New  York  business  men  and  women.  Plymouth  Church, 
where  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  the  best  known  preacher  of  his 
century,  long  occupied  the  pulpit,  is  a  plain  brick  building 
on  Orange  Street. 

At  Wallabout  Bay  is  the  foremost  Navy  Yard  in  this 
country,  started  in  1829. 


New  York  City 


79 


Prospect  Park,  finely  situated  on  an  elevated  ridge  in  the 
southwest  part  of  the  city,  has  unusual  natural  beauty  and 
commands  wide  views  of  the  region  around.  A  half  mile 
beyond  is  Greenwood  Cemetery,  one  of  the  most  attractive 
in  America.  It  is  at  its  best  about  the  end  of  May,  when  the 
dogwood  is  in  bloom.  Among  the  notable  persons  buried 


*** 


80  What  to  See  in  America 

there  are  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Peter  Cooper,  Henry  George, 
Horace  Greeley,  Elias  Howe,  inventor  of  the  sewing  machine, 
and  Morse,  inventor  of  the  telegraph. 

The  most  thronged  of  New  York's  seaside  resorts  is  Coney 
Island,  south  of  Brooklyn,  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor.  It 
is  a  strip  of  sand  five  miles  long,  with  an  average  width  of 
scarcely  half  a  mile,  separated  from  the  mainland  by  a 
little  creek.  The  estimated  annual  number  of  visitors  is 
10,000,000.  More  than  100,000  are  sometimes  there  in  a 
single  day. 


THE  PALISADES  OF  THE  HUDSON 

VIII 

New  York  State 

New  York,  the  "Empire  State,"  so  called  because  it  ranks 
first  in  the  Union  in  population,  manufacturing,  commerce, 
and  wealth,  takes  high  rank  also  for  its  scenic  attractions. 
\\7ithin  its  area,  or  on  its  borders,  are  the  Catskills,  the 
Adirondacks,  the  Hudson,  Lake  George  and  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  Niagara,  and  the  Thousand  Islands  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
As  early  as  1524  a  Florentine  navigator  entered  New 
York  Bay,  and  he  must  have  gone  up  the  Hudson  at  least 
as  far  as  the  Palisades,  for  he  speaks  of  it  as  "The  River  of 
the  Steep  Hills."  The  Indians  called  it  "The  Great  River 
of  the  Mountains."  The  English  sea  captain  to  whom  the 
river  owes  its  name  first  saw  it  in  1609,  when,  in  command 
of  a  little  Dutch  vessel,  the  Half  Moon,  he  sailed  up  its  broad 
salt-water  channel,  fancying  that  it  might  afford  a  short  cut 
to  China.  In  the  days  of  Dutch  dominion  it  was  called  the 
G  81 


82 


What  to  See  in  America 


SUNNYSIDE,    THE   HOME    OF  WASHINGTON    IRVING 


North  River  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Delaware,  which  was 
the  South  River  of  their  realm.     The  Hudson  rises  in  the 

Adirondacks  and 
flows  a  distance 
of  three  hundred 
miles  nearly  due 
south  to  the 
ocean. 

The  most  sat 
isfactory  way  to 
see  the  river  is 
to  travel  on  a 
Hudson  Day 
Line  steamer, 
1  e  a  v  i  n  g  New 

York  in  the  morning  and  arriving  at  Albany  in  the  early 
evening.  You  do  not  go  far  before  you  have  the  giant 
precipices  of  the  Palisades  on  the  left  shore.  Presently  the 
river  expands  into  the  Tappan  Sea,  a  famous  cruising  place 
for  ghosts  and  goblins.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the  sea,  two 
miles  south  of  Tarry- 
town,  is  "Sunny- 
side,"  the  home  of 
Washington  Irving 
in  his  later  years. 
At  Tarrytown  was 
captured  the  youth 
ful  British  spy, 
Major  Andre,  while 
he  was  serving  as  an 
emissary  of  Benedict 
Arnold,  who  was  ar 
ranging  to  betray  West  Point  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
Here  is  Sleepy  Hollow,  which  Irving  made  famous,  and  you 


THE  OLD  DUTCH  CHURCH  AT  SLEEPY  HOLLOW 


New  York  State 


83 


POPELOPEN  BRIDGE 


can  identify  the  spot  where  lehabod  (Vane  came  to  grief 
when  pursued  by  the  headless  horseman.  On  a  near-by 
knoll  is  a  little  Dutch  church  erected  about  1()9(),  one  of 
the  quaintest  and  best  preserved  historic  buildings  on  this 
continent.  Its  walls 
are  two  feet  thick. 
Xot  till  after  the 
Revolution  was  Eng 
lish  substituted  for 
Dutch  in  the  serv 
ices.  Irving  is 
buried  in  the  church 
yard.  Among  other 
graves  of  interest  is 
that  of  Captain  John 
Buckout,  who  at  the 
time  he  died  "  could 

count  two  hundred  and  forty  children  and  grandchildren" 
—  a  fact  graven  large  on  his  tombstone. 

The  Hudson  attains  its  greatest  width,  four  miles,  at 
Haverstraw  Bay.  On  the  west  shore  here  is  an  almost 
continuous  row  of  the  rough,  widespreading  sheds  used  by 
brickmakers.  At  the  north  end  of  the  Bay,  Stony  Point 
thrusts  its  rugged  headland  out  from  the  western  side,  and 
narrows  the  stream  to  a  half  mile.  It  was  captured  by  the 
British  June  1,  1779,  and  recaptured  six  weeks  later  in  a 
fierce  midnight  assault  by  "Mad"  Anthony  Wayne,  who, 
when  Washington  had  asked  him  if  he  was  willing  to  under 
take  the  enterprise,  replied,  "I'll  storm  hell,  sir,  if  you'll 
make  the  plans." 

Just  beyond  Peekskill  you  arrive  at  the  southern  gate  of  the 
Highlands,  and,  for  twenty  miles  beyond,  the  river  plays  hide 
and  seek  with  the  ancient  rock-ribbed  hills  and  mountains. 
Some  of  the  notable  heights  are  the  Dunderberg,  Bear  Hill, 


84 


What  to  See  in  America 


Anthonys  Nose,  Sugar  Loaf,  and  the  final  grand  group  at 
the  northern  gate,  Crow  Nest,  Taurus,  Breakneck,  and  Storm 
King.  Midway  are  the  shaggy  cliffs  of  West  Point,  the 
"Gibraltar  of  the  Hudson,"  and  here  is  the  great  Military 
Academy  established  in  1802.  An  important  historic  place 
farther  north  is  Newburg  where  Washington  had  his  head 
quarters  for  more  than  a  year  in  a  house  that  still  stands. 
The  General's  hall  of  reception  and  dining  room  was  a  large 
apartment  in  the  center  of  the  house,  remarkable  for  its 
having  seven  doors  and  a  single  window.  The  only  bridge 
which  spans  the  river  between  Albany  and  the  sea  is  at 
Poughkeepsie,  1  \  miles  long,  and  200  feet  above  the  stream. 
By  the  Poughkeepsie  waterside  is  the  old  brewery  whence 
came  the  money  to  found  Vassar  College  for  women  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  city  in  1861. 

A  half  dozen  miles  north,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  is 
West  Park,  long  the  home  of  the  nature  writer,  John  Bur- 


A  NORTHERN  GLIMPSE  OF  THE  HUDSON  FROM  WEST  POINT 


New  York  State 


85 


roughs.  He  was  born  in 
1837  at  Roxbury  in  the 
Catskills,  whose  "Moun 
tains  of  the  Sky,"  as  the 
Indians  called  them,  soon 
come  into  view.  The 
same  town  was  the  birth 
place  of  Jay  Gould,  and 
he  and  Burroughs  at 
tended  the  local  district 
school  together.  The 
Catskills  cover  an  area 
of  about  500  square  miles. 
They  are  the  land  of  Rip 
Van  Winkle  and  have 
great  charm  of  scenery, 
climate,  and  accessibil 
ity,  which  draws  to  them 
a  host  of  summer  so- 

journers.  This  region  is  now  a  chief  source  of  water  supply 
for  New  York  City.  The  Ashokan  Reservoir  is  twelve  miles 
long  and  covers  the  site  of  seven  villages.  Near  Storm  King 
the  water  is  conducted  through  a  tunnel  under  the  river  at 
a  depth  of  1100  feet.  The  enterprise  is  one  of  the  world's 
greatest  engineering  projects.  It  cost  nearly  $200,000,000. 
As  the  voyage  up  the  Hudson  draws  to  a  close,  145  miles 
from  New  York,  you  see  Albany's  massive  State  Capitol 
looming  against  the  sky.  It  was  begun  in  1869  at  an  esti 
mated  cost  of  $4,000,000.  The  actual  cost  since  the  corner 
stone  was  laid  has  been  nearly  $25,000,000.  Albany  became 
the  capital  of  the  state  in  1797,  after  a  score  of  years  of  uncer 
tainty,  during  which  Kingston,  Poughkeepsie,  and  New  York 
City  each  served  for  a  time  as  the  seat  of  government.  The 
average  rise  of  the  tide  here  is  somewhat  over  two  feet.  One 


THE  VASSAR  COLLEGE  GATE 


86 


What  to  See  in  America 


of  the  famous  men  born  in  the  city  was  Gen.  Philip  Sheridan. 
On  Clinton  Street  is  the  handsome  spacious  Schuyler  man 
sion,  where  have  been  entertained  such  guests  as  Washington, 
Lafayette,  Franklin,  and  Aaron  Burr.  Here  Alexander 
Hamilton  and  P]lizabeth  Schuyler  were  married  in  1780. 
The  next  year  some  Tories  and  Indians  forced  their  way  into 
the  house  intent  on  capturing  Gen.  Schuyler,  and  an  Indian 
threw  his  tomahawk  at  one  of  the  older  daughters,  who  was 

hastening  upstairs  carry 
ing  her  infant  sister.  The 
tomahawk  struck  the 
handrail,  making  a  cut 
that  is  still  there. 

The  country  above 
Albany  is  threaded  with 
canals,  and  opposite 
Troy  is  the  chief  outlet 
of  the  Erie  Canal  into 
the  Hudson.  A  few  miles 
farther  north  the  river 
receives  the  waters  of 
its  chief  tributary,  the 
Mohawk.  On  the  bor 
ders  of  Cohoes  the  latter 
stream  comes  tumbling 
over  a  high  ragged  ledge 
in  a  quite  impressive 
waterfall.  A  few  miles 

west  Mother  Ann  Lee,  "The  Lady  Elect,"  founder  of  the 
Shakers,  established  the  first  Communistic  settlement  in  the 
LTnited  States  in  1770.  She  declared  that  when  she  left  our 
world  she  would  ascend  to  heaven  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 
This  program,  however,  was  not  carried  out.  She  died  a 
natural  death  at  Watervliet,  and  is  there  buried. 


MONGAUP  FALLS  IN  THE  CATSKILLS 


New  York  State 


87 


The  most  noted 
place  in  the  region 
to  the  north  is  Sara 
toga,  the  peculiar 
virtues  of  whose 
springs  were  well 
known  among  the 
Indians  long  before 
the  white  men  came 
to  America.  The 

SUMMER  IN  THE  CATSKILLS  firgt  notej   was  DUjlt 

there  in  1771,  when  the  surroundings  included  sixteen 
Indian  cabins  in  plain  sight.  Wolves  howled  and  panthers 
screamed  by  night,  and  the  vicinity  was  frequented  by 
black  bears,'  deer,  and  moose.  Yet  Saratoga  Springs  pres 
ently  became  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  world's  watering 
places,  with  all  the  charm  that  wealth  and  fashion  could 
confer.  One  of  the  pop 
ular  excursions  in  the 
region  is  ten  miles  to 
the  cottage  at  the  sum 
mit  of  Mt.  McGregor  in 
which  Gen.  Grant  died 
in  1885.  The  Battle  of 
Saratoga,  in  the  autumn 
of  1777,  which  led  to  the 
surrender  of  Burgoyne, 
was  fought  twelve  miles 
to  the  east  near  the 
Hudson. 

Farther  up  the  river  is 
Glens  Falls,  of  interest  to 
the  stranger  because  a 
rocky  islet,  in  the  middle 


WINTER  IN  THE  CATSKILLS 


88 


What  to  See  in  America 


of  the  river,  right  where  the  stream  begins  its  chaotic  tumble 
of  seventy-two  feet  down  the  ledges,  was  the  scene  of  some  of 
the  most  thrilling  incidents  in  J.  Fenimore  Cooper's  "The 
Last  of  the  Mohicans." 

We  are  now  near  Lake  George,  thirty-three  miles  long,  and 
for  the  most  part  two  or  three  broad.  It  has  two  hundred 
and  twenty  islands,  and  many  a  wooded  guardian  height 
rises  from  its  borders.  At  the  southern  end  the  old  embank 
ments  of  Fort  William  Henry  can  still  be  traced,  and  other 
colonial  forts  in  the  region  survive  in  similar  half-effaced 
hillocks.  There  was  fighting  around  Lake  George  for  years, 
in  which  French,  English,  and  Indians  all  took  part,  and 
many  were  the  wild  and  savage  deeds  done.  The  water  is 
surprisingly  translucent,  and  you  can  watch  the  gambols  of 


ALBANY  FROM  THE  EAST  SIDE  OF  THE  HUDSON 

the  finny  folk  many  fathoms  below  the  surface.  At  the 
Narrows  is  Shelving  Rock,  with  its  palisades  and  dens  of 
rattlesnakes.  Here  the  water  reaches  a  depth  of  four  hundred 
feet.  One  of  the  islands  is  an  odd  little  nautical  eccentricity 


New  York  State 


89 


that  mimics  a  ship  in  its  verdure,  and  so  is  called  Ship  Island. 
The  discoverer  of  the  lake  was  a  French  Jesuit,  Father 
Jogues,  who  passed  through  it  while  going  on  a  mission  from 
Canada  to  the  Mohawks  in  1646.  He  was  kindly  received 


FALLS  OF  THE  MOHAWK  AT  COHOES 

by  the  tribe  at  first,. but  afterward  was  accused  of  being  a 
sorcerer  and  inflicting  on  the  Indians  a  scourge  of  cater 
pillars.  One  evening,  as  he  was  stooping  to  enter  a  lodge, 
an  Indian  following  behind,  armed  with  a  hatchet,  struck 
him  lifeless.  His  head  was  fixed  on  a  palisade,  and  his 
body  was  thrown  into  the  Mohawk  River.  At  Auriesville 
a  chapel  has  been  erected  on  the  site  of  his  martyrdom. 

In  the  four  miles  that  the  water  of  Lake  George  travels 
to  Lake  Champlain  it  descends  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
and  forms  two  series  of  cascades.  The  latter  lake  bears  the 
name  of  its  first  explorer,  who  came  from  Quebec  by  water 
in  1609  and  entered  the  lake  from  the  north  with  two  white 
companions  and  sixty  Indian  warriors  in  twrenty-four  canoes. 


90  What  to  See  in  America 


'?  JSS 


LAKE  GEORGE,  SOUTH  FROM  SABBATH  DAY  POINT 

More  than  a  hundred  years  passed,  and  then  the  French 
began  to  intrench  themselves  at  Scalp  Point,  which  the 
English  called  Crown  Point.  Later  they  fortified  Ticon- 
deroga,  a  name  derived  from  the  Iroquois,  meaning  the 
"  Meeting  of  the  Waters."  But  the  French  called  it  Carillon, 
which  is  equivalent  to  "Chimes  of  Bells,"  and  refers  to  the 
music  of  near-by  rapids.  The  Indian  name  for  Lake  Cham- 
plain  was  equivalent  to  the  "Gate  of  the  Country."  The 
lake  was  a  famous  fighting  region  of  the  Indians,  and  the 
French  and  English  fought  to  control  it,  and  later  the  English 
and  Americans  battled  there.  The  best  known  episode  in 
this  warfare  is  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga  by  New  England 
volunteers  under  Ethan  Allen.  They  crossed  from  the 
east  side  of  the  lake  in  rowboats  in  the  night  of  May  9,  1775. 
A  surprise  was  essential,  and  only  eighty-three  men  were  over 
soon  enough  to  follow  Allen  and  the  next  in  command, 
Benedict  Arnold,  up  the  ridge  to  the  fortress  at  daybreak. 
They  met  little  resistance,  and  when  the  startled  commandant 
appeared  in  his  night  garments,  Allen  demanded  the  surrender 
of  the  stronghold,  "in  the  name  of  the  great  Jehovah  and 
the  Continental  Congress."  The  fort  with  all  its  vast 
supplies  fell  into  American  hands  at  a  very  opportune 
time  when  the  struggle  for  liberty  had  just  begun.  Probably 
the  most  widely  famous  natural  attraction  of  the  lake  borders 


New  York  State 


91 


is  the  Ausable  Chasm.  Sable  is  a  French  word  that  means 
sand,  and  the  name  is  descriptive  of  the  sandy  bed  of  the 
Ausable  River  near  its  mouth.  The  chasm,  one  hundred  to 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  deep  and  only  twenty  to 
forty  wide,  is  one  of  the  most  impressive  specimens  of 
nature's  carving  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  A  path 
threads  its  depths  for  a  mile,  and  you  can  continue  the 
journey  somewhat  farther  by  boat.  Near  the  big  gorge  is  a 
little  one  called  Poke  o' Moonshine.  North  of  Westport,  a 
short  distance,  is  Split  Rock,  thirty  feet  high  and  a  half  acre 
in  extent.  It  is  separated  from  the  mountain  at  its  rear 
by  a  deep  cleft  about  fifteen  feet  wide.  According  to  the 
Indians,  a  chief  who  was  drowned  there  dwelt  afterward  in 
the  water  under  the  rock.  He  had  power  over  the  winds  and 
waves,  and  as  the  Indians  passed  in  their  canoes  they  were 
accustomed  to  throw  in  gifts  to  propitiate  him. 

West  of  Lake  Champlain  are  the  Adirondacks,  extending 
in  that  direction  eighty  miles,  and  from  the  Mohawk  River 
northerly  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  nearly  to  Canada. 
Most  of  the  region  is  densely  covered  with  forest.  Lumber 
ing  is  carried  on  extensively,  and  much  timber  is  annually 
sent  down  to  the  Hudson  and  St.  Lawrence.  There  are 
more  than  one  thousand  lakes  in  the  Adirondacks,  varying  in 
size  from  a  few  acres 
to  twenty  square 
miles.  Among  the 
wild  creatures  in  the 
district  are  panthers, 
bears,  wild  cats,  deer, 
beaver,  otters,  badg 
ers,  eagles,  loons,  and 
herons.  The  waters 
are  well  stocked  with 
trout  and  bass.  TICONDEROGA  ON  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN 


92 


What  to  See  in  America 


Photo  by  Warwick  S.  Carpentci 
LOWER  AUSABLE  RIVER  NEAR  THE  OUTLET 

tain  trees.  A  thin 
tide  of  home-makers 
began  to  creep  into 
the  region  after  the 
Revolution.  The 
skin-hunters  pros 
pered,  prospectors 
searched  for  gold, 
and  lumberers 
stripped  the  more  ac 
cessible  valleys  and 
slopes  of  white  pine 
and  hemlock.  The 
land  was  a  game-filled 
paradise  until  it  be 
gan  to  be  a  pleasure 
resort  about  1870. 
The  last  wolf  was  an 
old  yellow-fanged  one 
killed  near  Brandreth  GRAND  FLUME, 


Adirondacks 
means  tree-eat 
ers,  a  name  jok 
ingly  applied  by 
the  Mohawks  to 
an  invading  tribe 
from  Canada, 
which,  after  us 
ing  up  its  stores 
of  fish  and  veni 
son,  found  a  pre 
carious  substi 
tute  in  the  buds 
and  bark  of  cer- 


©  Detroit  Photo  Co. 
AUSABLE  CHASM 


New  York  State 


93 


in  1892,  but  only  a  few 
decades  earlier  the  wolves 
stole  venison  from  camps, 
and  destroyed  great  num 
bers  of  deer  when  the 
deep  winter  snows  made 
flight  difficult.  Long  be 
fore  the  last  wolf  per 
ished,  the  beaver,  which 
had  been  abundant,  were 
extinct ;  but  beaver  that 
were  released  in  1905  and 
protected  have  multiplied 
until  now  they  are  so 
numerous  as  to  be  a  pest 
in  some  sections  through 
their  propensity  for  flood 
ing  the  country  with  their 
dams. 

In  the  year  that  Na 
poleon  suffered  disaster 
at  Waterloo,  his  brother, 
Joseph  Bonaparte,  King  of  Spain,  bought  118,000  acres  in 
the  Adirondacks  around  Diana,  a  name  which  he  bestowed. 
He  built  a  hunting  lodge  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  that  now 
bears  his  name,  put  up  a  summer  house  at  Alpena,  and  an 
other  with  bullet-proof  rooms  at  Natural  Bridge  on  the 
Indian  River,  where  it  can  still  be  seen. 

In  1857  John  Brown  bought  a  piece  of  improved  land  at 
North  Elba.  There  he  made  a  home  for  himself  and  his 
family,  and  there  his  "body  lies  a-moldering  in  the  grave." 
Two  other  spots  with  famous  associations  are  Follensby 
Pond  and  Ampersand  Pond,  beside  each  of  which  a  group 
of  Cambridge  friends,  Emerson,  Lowell,  Agassiz,  and  Still- 


AMPERSAND  POND  AND  Mr.  SEWARD 


94 


What  to  See  in  America 


man,  spent  a  summer. 
They  bought  22,500 
acres  for  $600  and  in 
tended  to  philosophize 
there  for  their  remain 
ing  summers,  but  the 
Civil  War  cut  the 
scheme  short. 

A  beloved  modern 
dweller  in  the  Adiron- 
dackswas  Dr.Trudeau. 
At  the  age  of  twenty- 
four  he  discovered  that 
lie  had  tuberculosis  and 
left  New  York  City  to 
dwell  in  the  woods. 
There  he  successfully 
combated  the  disease 
for  forty  years  and  es 
tablished  the  great 

sanitarium  at  Saranac  Lake,  which  has  been  the  model  for 
innumerable  others.  His  most  famous  patient  was  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson,  who  was  in  his  care  during  the  winter  of 
1887-8. 

One  of  the  pests  that  plague  the  summer  campers  in  the 
woods  is  flies.  The  season  for  them  opens  in  mid-May 
with  the  punkies,  which,  though  only  of  pin-point  size,  are 
capable  of  being  superlatively  irritable.  The  black  fly 
appears  in  early  June.  Soon  afterward  mosquitoes  begin  to 
be  troublesome,  and  they  are  no  observers  of  hours,  but  are 
ready  for  business  day  and  night.  All  these  pests  can  to 
some  degree  be  circumvented  by  the  use  of  mosquito  netting, 
smudges,  and  lotions.  Few  of  them  survive  beyond  the  end 
of  summer. 


AN  ADIRONDACK  TRAIL 


New  York  State 


95 


BUTTERMILK  FALLS  NEAR  LONG  LAKE 


The  Adiron- 
dacks  have  many 
good  motor  roads, 
and  the  labyrin 
thine  lakes  and 
streams  furnish 
two  canoe  routes, 
each  more  than 
one  hundred  miles 
long.  Ten  of  the 
mountains  are 
over  4000  feet 
high  and  the  noblest  of  them  all,  Mt.  Marcy,  attains  an 
altitude  of  5344  feet.  Well  up  toward  this  mountain's  sum 
mit  is  Lake  Tear  of  the  Clouds,  which  is  the  source  of  the 
Hudson.  The  lake  is  eighty  yards  long  by  about  thirty 
wide.  It  is  very  shallow,  with  a  bottom  of  soft  black  mud 
that  makes  its  clear  water  look  like  ink.  The  Indian  name 
for  Mt.  Marcy  was  Jahawnus,  that  is,  the  Cloud-Piercer. 

An  old  place  south  of  the  Adirondacks  of  exceptional 
historic  interest  is  Schenectady,  which  suffered  severely  at 
the  hands  of  the  French  and  Indians  raiding  from  Canada 

in  1690.  It  was  then 
a  palisaded  Dutch  vil 
lage  on  the  remotest 
frontier  of  the  colony. 
The  attack  was  made 
toward  midnight  of 
February  8  in  a  cold 
gusty  snowstorm. 
Sixty  persons  were 
killed,  twenty-seven 
carried  away  captives, 

RACQUETTE  LAKE  and     all     but     half     a 


96  What  to  See  in  America 

dozen  of  the  houses  burned.  The  surviving  inhabitants, 
who  numbered  about  two  hundred  and  fifty,  buried  their 
dead,  including  their  pastor,  made  what  provision  they  could 
against  the  severity  of  the  winter,  and  began  the  work  of 
reconstruction.  About  fifty  miles  farther  west  is  the  sum 
mer  resort  of  Cherry  Valley  which  suffered  in  a  similar  way 
in  1778.  All  its  people  were  either  massacred  or  taken 
prisoners. 

One  of  the  most  picturesque  of  colonial  characters  was  Sir 
William  Johnson.  At  Johnstown,  about  50  miles  northwest 

n  of  Albany,  he 
built  "  Johnson's 
Hall,"  as  he 
called  it,  and 
there  lived  in  ba 
ronial  style,  ex 
ercising  great 
hospitality.  He 
was  intimate 
with  the  Indians, 

A  STAGE  BETWEEN  NORTH  CREEK  AND  INDIAN  LAKE  ,          ,     .      , 

spoke  their  lan 
guage,  and  at  times  put  on  their  dress  and  their  paint,  and 
whooped,  yelped,  and  stamped  like  one  of  them.  The  Mo 
hawks  adopted  him  into  their  tribe  and  made  him  a  chief, 
and  he  married  a  squaw.  His  mansion  still  stands. 

At  the  southern  end  of  Otsego  Lake  is  Cooperstown, 
founded  in  1786  by  the  father  of  J.  Fenimore  Cooper,  the 
novelist.  The  latter  was  brought  there  when  an  infant, 
and  it  continued  to  be  his  home  until  he  died  in  1851.  His 
father's  log  house  was  soon  replaced  by  Otsego  Hall,  which 
for  many  years  was  the  most  spacious  and  stately  residence 
in  central  New  York.  A  statue  of  an  Indian  hunter  marks 
its  site.  Cooper's  Indians  have  been  defined  by  Mark  Twain 
as  "an  extinct  tribe  that  never  existed,"  but  his  books 


New  York  State 


97 


LAKE  TEAR  OF  THE  CLOUDS,  MT.  MARCY 


remain  one  of  the 
most  vitally  interest 
ing  literary  products 
of  his  time. 

Syracuse  produces 
3,000,000  bushels  of 
salt  annually,  yet  this 
is  now  a  compara 
tively  unimportant 
item  in  the  city's  in 
dustry.  Its  salt 
springs,  in  the 
Onondaga  Lake,  have  been  exploited 


marshes  bordering 
since  1650. 

Ithaca,  at  the  head  of  Cayuga  Lake,  is  the  seat  of  the 
famous  coeducational  Cornell  University.  The  vicinity 
contains  many  pretty  waterfalls,  the  finest  of  which  is 
Taughannock  Fall,  which  makes  a  perpendicular  plunge  of 
two  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  in  a  rocky-sided  ravine.  This 
is  the  highest  waterfall  east  of  the  Rockies. 

The  next  important  lake  in  the  series  that  is  found  in  this 
part  of  the  state 
is  Seneca.  It 
is  thirty-eight 
miles  long  but 
less  than  three 
broad.  The 
water  is  seven 
hundred  feet 
deep  and  never 
freezes. 

Rochester  is  a 
natural  starting 
point  for  touring  AN  ADIRONDACK  BEAVER  DAM 


\Vhat  to  See  in  America 


LOG  LEAN-TO  IN  THE  ADIRONDACK^ 


in  the  beautiful  Gen- 
essee  Valley.  In  the 
heart  of  the  city  the 
river  makes  a  per 
pendicular  fall  of 
nearly  one  hundred 
feet,  and  a  little  way 
downstream  Middle 
Fall  descends  twenty- 
five  feet,  and  Lower 
Fall  ninety-six  feet. 
Main  Street  crosses 

the  river  by  a  concealed  bridge,  lined  on  both  sides  with 
buildings  in  the  style  of  Old  London  Bridge.  Near  this 
the  Erie  Canal  is  conducted  over  the  river  by  an  aqueduct 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long.  About  a  score  of  miles 
to  the  east,  on  a  hill  in  the  little  town  of  Manchester,  Joseph 
Smith  found  the  strangely  engraved  metal  plates  whose 
inscriptions,  when  he  had  miraculously  translated  them, 
became  the  Mormon  Bible.  He  organized  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints  with  six  members  in  1830. 
South  of  Rochester  is  pastoral  farming  country;  but  keep 
on  for  fifty  miles  and  you  are  amid  rude  hills,  where  the 
three  Portage  Falls 
make  descents  vary 
ing  from  seventy  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet.  They  are  im 
pressive  both  in 
height  and  volume 
of  water,  and  below 
the  final  one  is  a  tre 
mendous  canyon. 

At     the     extreme  OTSEGO  LAKE,  NEAR  COOPERSTOWN 


New  York  State 


99 


west  end  of  the  state  is  Chautauqua  Lake,  only  eight  miles 
from  Lake  Erie,  yet  whose  waters  go  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
Here  is  the  summer  meeting-place  of  the  Chautauqua  In 
stitution,  a  system  of  popular  education,  including  public 
lectures  and  home  read 
ing  circles,  which  has 
spread  all  over  the  United 
States  since  it  was 
founded  in  1878. 

Buffalo,  the  second 
largest  city  in  the  state, 
is  known  as  the  "Queen 
City  of  the  Lakes."  Its 
situation  at  the  east  end 
of  Lake  Erie  makes  it 
an  emporium  for  much 
of  the  traffic  with  the 
Northwest.  The  first 
white  man's  dwelling  was 
erected  there  in  1791.  A 
decade  later  the  place 
was  laid  out  on  a  grand 
scale  with  broad  radiat 
ing  avenues  on  which 
were  bestowed  such 
names  as  Van  Staphorst, 
now  a  part  of  Main 
Street,  Stadingsky,  now 
Church  Street,  and 
Schimmelpennick,  now 
Niagara  Street.  Its  own  name  was  derived  from  the  fact 
that  bison  used  to  visit  the  neighboring  salt  licks.  In 
Forest  Park  Cemetery  is  a  monument  to  the  famous  Indian 
warrior,  Red  Jacket,  who  died  in  1830  at  the  age  of  about 


TAUGHANNOCK  FALL,  NEAR  ITHACA 


100 


What  to  See  in  America 


©  Detroit  Photo  C 
FALLS  OF  GENESEE  NEAR  ROCHESTER 


eighty  in  his  log 
cabin  four  miles  from 
Buffalo.  The  city's 
harbor  is  protected 
by  a  breakwater  that 
is  several  miles  long, 
and  at  the  waterside 
are  the  mighty  forms 
of  more  than  two 
score  grain  elevators 
with  a  capacity  of 
many  millions  of 
bushels.  Electric 

power  is  delivered  in  the  city  from  Niagara  Falls  in  practi 
cally  unlimited  quan 
tities.  At  Buffalo 
was  launched  in  1818 
the  first  steamboat 
to  make  an  appear 
ance  on  the  lakes.  She 
was  a  side-wheeler 
called  the  IValk-in- 
the-water,  had  un 
boxed  wheels,  and  six 
lengths  of  stovepipe 
put  together  served 
for  a  smokestack. 
For  several  years  she 
plied  back  and  forth 
between  Buffalo  and 
Detroit.  The  trip 
often  took  thirteen 
days,  and  the  fare 
Was  eighteen  dollars.  THE  ENTRANCE  TO  THE  CAVE  OF  THE  WINDS 


New  York  State 


101 


WHIRLPOOL  RAPIDS 


The  rapid  growth 
of  Buffalo  dates  back 
to  1825,  when  the 
Erie  Canal  was  com 
pleted.  That  was 
before  the  time  of  the 
telegraph,  and  can 
non  were  placed  at 
intervals  within  hear 
ing  of  each  other  all 
along  the  route  to 
carry  the  news  when  the  water  of  Lake  Erie  was  let  into 
the  channel  that  had  been  dug.  At  ten  o'clock,  October 
26th,  the  first  cannon  boomed  at  the  west  end,  and  at  twenty- 
one  minutes  past  eleven  the  last  of  the  series  of  discharges 
conveyed  the  tidings  to  New  York.  In  recent  years  the 
canal  has  been  improved  at  vast  expense,  and  it  is  now 
seventy-five  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  has  locks  three  hun 
dred  feet  long,  and  allows  the  passage  of  barges  with  a 
capacity  of  one  thousand  tons. 

Lake  Erie  is  connected  with  Lake  Ontario  by  the  Niagara 
River,  which  descends  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  feet  in 
its  thirty-six  miles.  About  midway  are  the  great  falls.  On 

the  brink  of  the  falls  the 
channel  is  divided  by 
Goat  Island,  eight  acres 
in  extent,  to  the  right  of 
which  is  the  American 
Fall,  1000  feet  wide  and 
167  feet  high,  and  to  the 
left  the  Canadian  or 
Horseshoe  Fall,  158  feet 
high  with  a  contour  of 
2550  feet.  Fully  seven 


OLD  QUAKER  CHURCH,  FLUSHING,  LONG 

ISLAND 


102  What  to  See  in  America 

tenths  of  the  water  passes  over  the  latter  fall.  The  gorge 
below  is  at  first  comparatively  wide,  but  a  few  miles  farther 
down,  at  the  Whirlpool  Rapids,  the  huge  volume  of  water 
is  compressed  into  a  space  of  less  than  three  hundred  feet 
from  shore  to  shore.  The  falls  are  receding  at  the  average 
rate  of  four  feet  a  year.  The  first  white  man  to  see  the  falls 
was  the  French  mariner,  Cartier,  in  1535.  Father  Hennepin, 
who  journeyed  thither  in  1678,  said  they  were  "  a  great  and 
prodigious  cadence  of  water,  to  which  the  universe  does  not 
offer  a  parallel."  Above  the  falls  are  seven  miles  of  rapids 
that  attain  an  amazing  velocity  as  they  approach  the  brink. 
A  little  steamer,  the  Maid  of  the  Mist,  makes  frequent 
trips  to  give  visitors  a  chance  to  view  the  falls  from  close 
below.  Perhaps  the  most  exciting  experience  possible  to 
the  tourist  is  a  visit  to  the  Cave  of  the  Winds.  The  cave  is 
behind  the  fall  of  the  narrow  stream  that  separates  Goat  and 
Luna  islands,  and  the  choking,  blinding,  deafening  tumult 
of  wind  and  water  defy  description.  A  limited  amount  of 
power  is  allowed  to  be  developed  by  withdrawing  water 
above  the  falls,  and  this  power  is  used  in  lighting  towns,  and 
in  operating  electric  railways  and  manufactories,  even  as 
far  as  Syracuse,  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  distant.  The 
Indians  have  a  tradition  that  the  falls  demand  two  human 
victims  each  year.  This  average  is  more  than  maintained, 
partly  by  accidents,  partly  by  suicides.  About  eight  miles 
to  the  northeast  of  the  falls  is  the  reservation  of  the  Tuscarora 
Indians,  who  make  baskets  and  other  articles  to  sell.  At  the 
mouth  of  the  river  is  old  Fort  Niagara,  established  in  1678. 
It  developed  into  a  little  city  in  itself,  covering  a  space  of 
about  eight  acres,  and  no  place  west  of  Albany  and  south  of 
Montreal  equaled  it  for  a  long  period. 

At  the  east  end  of  Lake  Ontario  the  Lake  of  the  Thousand 
Islands,  as  it  is  called,  extends  for  forty  miles  down  the  St. 
Lawrence  with  a  width  of  from  four  to  seven  miles.  The 


New  York  State 


103 


actual  number  of  islands  big  and  little  is  about  seventeen 
hundred.  Many  of  them  are  favorite  summer  resorts, 
while  others  are  private  property  occupied  by  fine  country 
houses.  These  islands  are  one  of  the  most  famous  attrac 
tions  of  the  Great  Lake  region. 

An  interesting  portion  of  the  state  that  has  already  re 
ceived  some  attention  in  the  preceding  chapter  is  Long 
Island.  It  has  a  length 
of  over  a  hundred  miles 
and  its  greatest  width  is 
twenty  miles.  Much  of 
it  is  rather  featureless 
farm  country,  but  there 
are  many  quaint  old 
homes  and  simple  rustic 
churches  and  a  good  deal 
that  is  attractive  along 
the  shore.  At  Flushing, 
about  a  dozen  miles 
northeast  of  Brooklyn,  is 
a  Quaker  meetinghouse 
completed  in  1719.  The 
British  used  it  for  a  prison 
barracks  and  hospital  in 
the  Revolution,  and  they 
burned  the  fence  around  the  graveyard  for  fuel.  The 
"Good  Gray  Poet,"  Whitman,  was  born  a  score  of  miles 
farther  east,  in  Huntington,  in  1819.  He  was  named  Walter 
after  his  father,  but  was  commonly  called  Walt  in  boyhood 
and  chose  to  retain  that  form  of  his  name  in  later  life.  To 
ward  the  far  end  of  the  island,  at  Easthampton,  is  the  fine 
colonial  dwelling  which  inspired  "  Home,  Sweet  Home."  It 
is  the  birthplace  of  John  Howard  Payne.  In  some  of  the 
old  towns  are  white-sailed  windmills  that  grind  corn. 


A  WINDMILL,  EASTHAMPTON,  LONG 
ISLAND 


104  What  to  See  in  America 

The  name  of  the  state  was  given  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of 
York,  to  whom  his  brother,  Charles  II,  granted  the  region 
in  1664.  The  people  are  called  "Knickerbockers."  Knicker 
means  a  box,  and  bock  a  he-goat,  and  the  entire  name  seems 
to  have  been  coined  by  Washington  Irving  to  serve  for  that 
of  one  of  his  fictitious  characters. 


DELAWARE  WATER  GAP 

IX 

New  Jersey 

In  1651  the  Swedes  who  had  settled  Delaware  crossed  the 
river  a  few  miles  south  of  Wilmington  and  built  Fort  Elfs- 
borg  at  the  mouth  of  Salem  Creek.  But  they  soon  deserted 
their  stronghold  in  disgust  after  giving  it  a  name  which 
was  equivalent  to  Fort  Mosquito.  Thus  early  did  New 
Jersey  mosquitoes  earn  the  reputation  that  clings  to  them 
to  this  day,  and  it  is  perhaps  only  natural  that  New  Jersey 
should  sometimes  be  dubbed  "The  Mosquito  State."  It  is, 
however,  more  generally  called  the  "Jersey  Blue  State," 
which  refers  to  New  Jersey's  overstrict  and  religious  early 
"blue  laws."  The  people  are  nicknamed  "Clam-catchers" 
from  the  principal  occupation  of  many  of  its  poorer  dwellers 
on  the  coast. 

The  Dutch  were  the  first  permanent  settlers.  Some  of 
their  traders  occupied  Bergen  Point,  now  a  part  of  Jersey 
City,  about  1615,  and  in  1623  a  party  of  Dutch  built  Fort 

105 


106  What  to  See  in  America 

Nassau,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Delaware  four  miles  be 
low  Philadelphia.  But  not  until  the  region  came  into  the 
hands  of  the  English  in  1664  did  colonization  begin  with 
any  vigor. 

New  Jersey  borders  on  the  Hudson  for  a  considerable 
distance,  and  so  has  on  its  territory  most  of  the  gigantic 
bluff  of  trap  rock  known  as  the  Palisades  which  extends  along 
the  west  side  of  the  river  from  Fort  Lee,  opposite  New  York 
City's  170th  Street,  northward  for  fifteen  miles.  The 
rocks  rise  very  abruptly  from  the  water's  edge  to  a  height 
of  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  six  hundred  feet.  The  entire 
length  of  the  Palisades  is  now  an  interstate  park  controlled  to 
make  spoliation  by  quarrying  or  monopolization  of  any 
portion  of  it  for  private  purposes  impossible.  It  is  a  favorite 
camping  and  pleasure  resort,  and  all  its  privileges  are  to  be 
had  at  cost.  A  splendid  highway  has  been  begun  that  will 
eventually  extend  the  whole  distance  from  Fort  Lee  to 
Albany  with  the  river  practically  always  in  sight.  Near  the 
waterside,  under  the  cliffs  at  Weehawken,  was  formerly  a 
narrow  grassy  plateau  that  was  a  favorite  resort  for  duelists. 
Here  Alexander  Hamilton  was  fatally  wounded  by  Aaron 
Burr  in  July,  1804.  A  monument  on  the  bluff  above  com 
memorates  the  tragedy.  Farther  down  the  river  is  Castle 
Point,  where,  one  night  in  1643,  a  party  of  Dutch  and  friendly 
Mohawks  from  Manhattan  killed  one  hundred  Indians, 
men,  women,  and  children,  by  either  shooting  them  or 
driving  them  into  the  Hudson.  An  Indian  village  in  this 
vicinity  was  called  Hobock,  a  name  which  the  whites  have 
retained  in  the  form  of  Hoboken. 

West  of  Jersey  City  are  the  extensive  salt  marshes  of  the 
Hackensack,  covered  with  reeds  and  sedge  grass  that  grow 
in  soft  mud  which  is  sometimes  forty  feet  deep.  But  you 
soon  arrive  at  the  prosperous  manufacturing  city  of  Newark, 
the  largest  place  in  the  state.  Not  far  to  the  south  is  Eliza- 


New  Jersey 


107 


CANOE  BEACH  AT  FOOT  OF  PALISADES 


heth,  which  was 
New  Jersey's  first 
seat  of  govern 
ment  and  was 
not  superseded 
by  Trenton  until 
1790. 

A  famous  scenic 
attraction  in  the 
northwestern 
part  of  the  state 
is  the  Water  Gap, 

where  the  Delaware  flows  through  the  Kittatinny  Mountains. 
Only  by  taking  a  trip  through  the  Gap  in  a  boat  can  you 
get  an  adequate  impression  of  its  two-mile  length  and  of 
the  height  of  its  rocky  walls  rising  1500  feet  almost  from 
the  water's  edge.  In  the  vicinity  are  numerous  vernal  road 
ways,  sylvan  paths,  waterfalls,  and  outlooks  from  cliff  and 
hill  and  mountain  top  that  entice  the  visitor  to  a  prolonged 
stay.  Ten  miles  farther  up  the  river  is  the  "Fiddler's 
Elbow,"  where  the  channel  takes  the  form  of  a  letter  S. 
In  the  neighboring  wild  and  rugged  section  is  High  Point, 
the  loftiest  elevation  in  the  state,  with  an  altitude  of  1809  feet. 
Down  the  river  eighty-three  miles  is  Trenton,  at  the  head 
of  navigation. 
Great  quantities 
of  peaches  and 
cranberries  are 
raised  in  the 
tributary  region. 
Gen.  McClellan 
is  buried  in 

MORRIS  CANAL  TOWING  BRIDGE  ACROSS  ROCK- 

tery  here.  Wash-  AWAY  RIVER 


108 


What  to  See  in  America 


ington  crossed  the  Delaware,  eight  miles  to  the  north,  on 
Christmas  night,  1776,  in  a  storm  of  sleet  and  snow,  to  at 
tack  one  thousand  Hessians  quartered  in  Trenton.  He 
captured  them  all,  defeated  the  British  at  Princeton,  and 
retired  to  Morristown. 

Seven  miles  below  Trenton  is  Bordentown,  where  Joseph 
Bonaparte,  elder  brother  of  Napoleon,  and  at  one  time  King 

.v^iHHan     °f  Naples  and  King 
of  Spain,  bought  an 

Jl  estate  of  1400  acres 

after  Waterloo.  This 
was   his   home   until 
1832.     It   is   now   a 
JffiR  public     park.      At 

Burlington,    thirteen 

is  the  house  in  which 
l^BB  J-  Fenimore  Cooper 

was    born    in    1789. 

The  industrial  and 
commercial  city  of  Camden,  just  across  the  Delaware  from 
Philadelphia,  was  long  the  residence  of  Walt  Whitman,  and 
there  he  is  buried. 

Historic  Princeton,  about  twenty  miles  northeast  of 
Trenton,  is  famous,  first  of  all,  for  its  college.  One  of  the 
early  college  presidents  was  Jonathan  Edwards.  He  is 
buried  in  the  Princeton  Cemetery,  as  is  also  his  brilliant  but 
erratic  grandson,  Aaron  Burr.  A  recent  head  of  the  college 
was  Woodrow  Wilson.  The  oldest  college  building  is 
Nassau  Hall,  completed  about  1756.  It  served  as  a  meeting- 
place  for  Congress  in  1783.  In  the  Princeton  vicinity,  on 
a  height  above  the  town  of  Rocky  Hill,  is  a  mansion  where 
Washington  was  several  times  a  guest,  and  from  which  he 
issued  his  farewell  address  to  the  army. 


(Q)  Detroit  f'hoto  Co. 
BLAIR  HALL,  PRINCETON 


New  Jersey 


109 


The  most  popular  resort  section  of  New  Jersey  is  its  sea 
shore.  This  is  practically  a  suburb  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  for  its  entire  length.  The  most  conspicuous 
feature  of  its  northern  coast  is  Sandy  Hook,  which  forms 
one  of  the  portals  of  New  York  Bay,  and  on  which  are  an  old 
stone  fort  and  three  lighthouses.  Near  Highlands,  at  the 
southernmost  nook  of  New  York  Harbor,  is  Water  Witch 
Park,  which  takes  its  name  from  Cooper's  "Water  Witch,"  a 
novel  that  has  its  scene  laid  in  the  vicinity. 

A  seaside  resort  with  an  individuality  of  its  own  is  Ocean 
Grove,  controlled  by  a  Methodist  association.  The  grounds 
have  the  sea  on  the  east,  lakes  north  and  south,  and  a  high 
fence  on  the  west.  At  ten  in  the  evening,  daily,  the  gates 
are  closed.  They  are  not  opened  at  all  on  Sunday.  No 
Sabbath  bathing,  riding,  or  driving  is  permitted,  no 
theatrical  performances  are  allowed  at  any  time,  and  the 
sale  of  tobacco  is  strictly  prohibited.  An  annual  camp  meet 
ing  is  the  great  event  of  the  season. 

Long  Branch,  on  a  bluff  facing  the  sea,  above  a  beautiful 
sandy  beach,  has  about  12,000  permanent  inhabitants,  and 


SUMMER  ON  THE  BEACH  AT  CAIJE  MAY 


a  summer  population  five  times  that  number.  At  Elberon, 
the  fashionable  cottage  part  of  the  resort,  can  be  seen  the 
dwelling  in  which  President  Garfield  died. 

Atlantic  City,  the  most  frequented  of  all  American  seaside 
resorts,  is  on  a  sand  strip  separated  from  the  coast  by  five  miles 


110  What  to  See  in  America 

of  sea  and  salt  meadows.  It  attracts  visitors  through  the 
entire  year,  for  the  climate  is  comparatively  mild  and  sunny 
even  in  winter.  More  than  50,000  persons  have  bathed 
there  in  a  single  summer  day.  The  splendid  beach  is 
bordered  by  the  famous  "Board  Walk,"  forty  feet  wide  and 
over  five  miles  long,  and  flanked  on  its  landward  side  by 
hotels,  shops,  and  places  of  amusement.  The  Walk  is 
brilliantly  illuminated  at  night  by  myriads  of  electric  lights, 
and  is  thronged  by  gay  crowds  seeking  diversion. 

Cape  May,  down  at  the  southern  tip  of  the  coast,  is  a 
rival  of  Atlantic  City  in  its  natural  attractions.  A  favorite 
inland  resort  is  Lake  wood,  sixty-three  miles  south  of  New 
York,  in  the  heart  of  a  pine  forest.  On  account  of  its  sheltered 
situation  and  mild  climate  it  attracts  many  winter  guests. 

New  Jersey  was  named  by  one  of  its  early  colonial  pro 
prietors  who  had  been  governor  of  the  English  Isle  of  Jersey. 


STONE-ARCH  BRIDGE  OVER  THE  SUSQUEHANNA  AT  ROCKVILLE 


Pennsylvania 

Pennsylvania,  the  "Keystone  State,"  so  called  because  of  its 
position  and  importance  among  the  original  thirteen,  was 
first  settled  by  Swedes,  who  built  a  fort  where  Wilmington 
now  is,  and  bought  land  of  the  Indians  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Delaware  as  far  north  as  a  point  opposite  Trenton.  They 
founded  a  town  on  the  site  of  Philadelphia,  built  churches 
here  and  there,  and  when  William  Penn's  Quakers  arrived 
in  1681,  there  were  several  hundred  Swedes  in  farm  houses 
and  hamlets  along  the  Delaware.  For  a  time  the  newcomers 
dwelt  in  caves  that  they  dug  in  the  river  bank,  and  in  one 
of  these  caves,  which  was  afterward  used  as  a  tavern  and 
called  the  "Pennypot,"  was  born  John  Key,  the  first  child 
born  of  English  parents  in  Pennsylvania.  Penn  presented 
the  child  with  a  lot  of  ground.  The  boy  lived  to  be  eighty- 
five  years  old,  and  was  known  as  the  "First  Born"  to  the 
day  of  his  death. 

The  name  of  the  settlement  —  Philadelphia,  that  is,  the 
City  of  Brotherly  Love  —  was  chosen  by  Penn.  A  few 
months  after  he  arrived  he  made  his  famous  treaty  with  the 
Indians  under  a  great  elm  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware  a 
mile  north  of  the  present  Market  Street  Ferry.  There  you 
will  find  Penn  Treaty  Park  and  a  beautiful  monument. 

Ill 


112  What  to  See  in  America 

The  elm  blew  down  in  1810.  Penn  built  a  small  square  house 
of  imported  bricks  on  the  crest  of  a  low  hill  that  rose  from 
the  boat  haven.  That  was  his  home  until  he  returned  to 
England  in  1684,  when  he  placed  it  at  the  service  of  the 
Provincial  Council,  and  for  several  years  it  was  the  State 
House  of  the  province.  When  he  came  again  to  Philadelphia, 
in  1699,  he  built  a  new  house  for  himself  and  eventually  gave 
the  other  dwelling  to  his  daughter,  Letitia.  The  Letitia 
House,  as  it  became  known,  is  now  in  Fairmount  Park. 

One  early  morning  in  1723  Benjamin  Franklin,  then  a 
youth  of  seventeen,  walked  up  Market  Street.  He  presently 
became  the  city's  most  notable  resident,  with  a  home  on  High 
Street,  where  hospitality  and  good  cheer  always  reigned.  In 
his  home  garden  he  flew  his  immortal  kite,  and  to  the  house 
wall  he  attached  the  lightning  rod  that  he  devised.  When  he 
died,  in  1790,  20,000  people  followed  his  body  to  its  grave  in 
the  old  Quaker  bury  ing-ground  in  the  yard  of  Christ  Church. 

An  attractive  contemporary  of  Franklin's  was  the  Quaker 
botanist,  John  Bartram,  born  near  Derby,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1699.  Philadelphia  was  his  home  for  most  of  his  life,  and 
there  he  built,  in  1731,  the  simple  and  beautiful  stone  house 
which  still  stands  in  what  is  now  Bartram 's  Park. 

The  oldest  church  in  the  city  is  "Gloria  Dei,"  which, 
when  the  Swedes  built  it  in  1700,  was  considered  "a  great 
edifice,  the  finest  in  the  town."  Christ  Church,  a  portion  of 
which  dates  back  to  1731,  was  completed  with  the  aid  of 
lottery  tickets.  Washington,  Franklin,  and  other  noted 
men  have  worshiped  in  it.  The  Friends'  Meeting-house  in 
Arch  Street  is  a  quaint  and  venerable  structure. 

At  the  end  of  an  alley  leading  south  from  Chestnut  Street 
is  Carpenter's  Hall,  a  two-story  brick  building  erected  by  the 
guild  of  carpenters  and  house  masons.  In  the  hall,  which 
takes  up  the  entire  lower  floor,  the  first  Continental  Congress 
met  in  September,  1774. 


Pennsylvania 


113 


Not  far  away,  bordering  on  Chestnut  Street,  is  Independ 
ence  Hall,  an  admirable  example  of  colonial  architecture, 
graceful  in  its  proportions,  and  with  a  simple  and  fitting 
dignity.  When  completed,  in  1734,  it  was  surrounded  by 
magnificent  trees,  veterans  of  the  primeval  forest,  but  these 
last  survivors  in  Philadelphia  of  the  mighty  woods  which 
gained  for  the  state  its  sylvan  name  were  gradually  sacrificed 
until,  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  the  building  stood  bare 
and  desolate.  After  the  war  its  grounds  were  enlarged, 
new  trees  were  planted,  and  this  Square  became  a  fashionable 
loitering  place  of  whose  genteel  and  urban  charms  the  local 
poets  wrote  stilted  verses  for  the  columns  of  the  city  press. 
In  1752  the  Liberty  Bell  was  hung  in  Independence  Hall,  and 
on  July  8,  1776,  it  fulfilled  the  proud  mission  inscribed  on  it 

-  "Proclaim  liberty 
throughout  the  land, 
to  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof."  When  the 
occupation  of  the  city 
by  the  British  seemed 
immanent,  the  next 
year,  this  bell  and 
that  of  Christ  Church 
were  taken  down  and 
sunk  in  the  river  near 
Trenton  to  prevent 

their  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy ;  and  there  they 
remained  until  the  war  ended.  The  Liberty  Bell  was 
cracked  in  1835  while  tolling  for  the  funeral  of  Chief  Justice 
Marshall. 

The  Continental  Congress  met  in  the  Hall  when  it  adopted 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  here  Washington  was 
appointed  commander  in  chief  of  the  army.  The  building 
has  been  restored  as  nearly  as  possible  to  its  original  con- 


THE  LETITIA  HOUSE  IN  FAIRMOUNT  PARK 


114 


What  to  See  in  America 


INDEPENDENCE  HALL,  PHILADELPHIA 


clition,  and  contains  a 
national  museum  of  co 
lonial  and  Revolution 
ary  relics,  including  the 
Liberty  Bell,  and  the  fa 
mous  Rattlesnake  Flags 
with  the  motto  "Don't 
tread  on  me,"  that  were 
the  earliest  national  ban 
ners. 

On  Arch  Street  is  the 
Betsy  Ross  house,  a  typi 
cal  mechanic's  dwelling  of  its  day,  in  which  the  first  flag  of 
the  stars  and  stripes  was  made  from  a  design  prepared  by  a 
committee  of  Congress  and  George  Washington  in  1777. 

October  4th  of  that  year  a  battle  was  fought  in  German- 
town,  then  a  village  of  one  long  street  a  few  miles  north 
of  Philadelphia.  Washington  attacked  the  British  in  a 
dense  fog,  and  victory  seemed  immanent  when  one  American 
brigade  fired  on  some  of  their  comrades.  A  panic  followed 
and  a  general  retreat  of  the  assailants  was  ordered.  This 
was  only  about  a  week  after  the  British  had  gained  possession 
of  Philadelphia,  where  they  remained  until  the  next  June. 
Except  for  this  short  period  the  city  was  the  capital  of  the 
state  until  1799,  and  it  was  the  seat  of  the  federal  govern 
ment  from  1790  to  1800. 

One  of  the  most  imposing  of  modern  structures  in  Philadel 
phia  is  the  City  Hall,  which  covers  four  and  one  half  acres, 
a  greater  area  than  is  covered  by  any  other  building  in  the 
United  States.  It  cost  $25,000,000.  The  tower,  five  hun 
dred  and  ten  feet  high,  is  surmounted  by  a  thirty-seven-foot 
statue  of  William  Penn. 

The  city  is  justly  proud  of  Fairmount  Park,  which  began 
in  1812  with  a  modest  purchase  of  five  acres,  but  now  con- 


Pennsylvania 


115 


tains  more  than  3000  acres.  It  is  the  largest  city  park  in 
the  United  States,  and  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world.  In 
it  was  held  the  Centennial  Exhibition,  the  first  World's  Fair 
that  this  country  had  ever  seen.  It  gets  its  name  from  an 
isolated  conical  hill  about  ninety  feet  high. 

Sentiment  in  Philadelphia  has  strongly  favored  the  owning 
of  a  home  by  each  family,  and  as  the  population  increased 
the  streets  reached  out  over  the  level  land  with  row  after 
row  of  modest  dwellings.  Two-  and  three-story  brick  houses 
make  up  the  greater  part  of  the  city,  and  each  is  generally 
the  property  of  some  successful  citizen  who  is  its  occupant. 
Thus  the  place  gets  its  title  of  the  "City  of  Homes."  The 
name  "Quaker  City"  is  a  reminder  of  the  city's  origin. 
The  Quakers  are  still  an  important  element  in  the  population, 
for  many  of  the  oldest,  wealthiest,  and  most  esteemed  families 
belong  to  this  sect.  The  place  has  always  been  one  of  the 
foremost  manufacturing 
cities  of  the  United  States, 
and  is  only  surpassed  by 
New  York  and  Chicago. 
Among  its  important  in 
dustries  is  shipbuilding. 
The  Cramp  Shipyard,  es 
tablished  on  the  Dela 
ware  in  1830,  has  world 
wide  fame. 

About  the  time  that 
the  use  of  steam  as  a  mo 
tive  power  for  railways 
became  recognized  as  a 
splendid  possibility,  Mat 
thias  Baldwin,  a  young 
Philadelphia  silversmith 

and      toolmaker,      con-      THE  BETSY  Ross  HOUSE,  PHILADELPHIA 


116  What  to  See  in  America 

structed  a  toy  engine  capable  of  dragging  two  carriages, 
each  holding  two  people,  around  a  track  laid  on  the  floor 
of  a  city  museum.  As  a  result,  he  was  commissioned  to 
build  a  locomotive  for  a  railroad  running  up  the  Schuylkill 
Valley  twenty  miles  to  Norristown.  Thus  "Old  Ironsides," 
parent  of  American  locomotives,  came  into  being.  It  was 
put  on  the  road  in  November,  1832,  and  the  following  notice 
was  inserted  in  the  Daily  Advertiser:  "The  locomotive 
engine  will  depart  daily,  when  the  weather  is  fair,  with  a 
train  of  passenger  cars.  On  rainy  days  horses  will  be  at 
tached."  The  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works,  which  Matthias 
Baldwin  founded,  have  become  the  largest  establishment  of 
their  kind  in  the  world. 

January  1,  1839,  an  all-rail  line  was  opened  from  Camden 
to  Jersey  City  by  which  the  railroad  company  declared  it 
was  "possible  to  go  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York  in  six 
or  seven  hours  with  almost  as  much  comfort  as  the  traveler 
could  have  at  his  own  fireside,  whereas  the  journey  had  for 
merly  required  eleven  to  twenty  hours,  and  had  been  made 
at  the  expense  of  great  discomfort  and  even  hazard  of  life." 

On  the  forenoon  of  New  Year's  Day  Philadelphia  has  its 
Mummers'  Parade.  You  may  then  see  marching  up  Broad 
Street  gorgeous  company  following  gorgeous  company  in  a  dis 
tinctly  feudal  demon 
stration  chieflv  par- 
*»r  .  • ..  '*...':;  ^BaLsssliKbJ  .  . 

ticipated     in     by 

mechanics,  laborers, 
E  and  small  shopkeep 
ers.  Men  freely  spend 
the  savings  of  a  year 
to  make  a  show  in 
these  vying  and  un 
believably  berigged 

BROAD  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA  Companies.  For  hours 


Pennsylvania 


117 


the  paraders  march  or 
dance,  with  music  blaring 
and  feet  tapping  time. 

Ten  miles  west  of  Phila 
delphia  is  Bryn  Mawr 
with  its  famous  college 
founded  by  a  Quaker  for 
the  advanced  education 
of  women,  and  opened  for 
students  in  1885.  The 
name  is  Welsh  for  "great 
hill."  About  fifteen  miles 
farther  on  is  Valley  Forge, 
where  Washington  with 
his  army  of  10,000  men 
went  into  camp  on  De 
cember  19,  1777,  and  re 
mained  until  the  next 
June.  In  midwinter  more 

than  one  third  of  the  men  were  unfit  for  duty  on  account 
of  sickness  or  lack  of  food  and  clothing.  The  camp  ground 
has  been  bought  by  the  state.  Washington's  headquarters, 
a  substantial  stone  house  built  in  1757,  has  been  preserved, 
and  several  log  cabins  and  bake  ovens  such  as  were  used  by 
the  army  have  been  reproduced.  A  score  of  miles  to  the 
west,  at  Pottstown,  is  a  wonderful  group  of  "  Ringing  Rocks," 
which  give  forth  a  musical  sound  when  struck.  Near  Read 
ing,  which  is  somewhat  farther  up  the  Susquehanna,  Daniel 
Boone  was  born  in  1734,  but  when  he  was  about  seventeen 
the  family  moved  to  North  Carolina. 

Southeast  of  Valley  Forge  is  the  interesting  little  church 
of  St.  David's  at  Radnor,  forty  feet  long  by  twenty-seven 
broad,  built  by  the  Welsh  in  1715  to  replace  one  of  logs. 
The  Continental  Army,  while  camped  in  the  vicinity,  cut 


A  HUT  AT  VALLEY  FORGE 


118  What  to  See  in  America 

out  the  lead  of  the  diamond-shaped  windows  and  molded  it 
into  bullets.  After  the  Battle  of  the  Brandywine  sixteen 
British  soldiers  were  buried  in  the  churchyard.  Here  is 
also  buried  "Mad  Anthony  Wayne,"  who  was  born  in  a 
house  still  preserved  at  Waynesborough,  a  few  miles  to  the 
west.  The  region  that  lies  beyond  is  the  "  Garden  of  Pennsyl 
vania,"  one  of  the  richest  and  most  carefully  cultivated 
farming  districts  in  America. 

A  famous  colonial  episode  was  the  Lancaster  Indian 
Massacre  in  1763.  Near  that  town  dwelt  a  little  band  of 
friendly  Indians  who  had  long  since  been  converted  to  Chris 
tianity,  and  supported  themselves  by  basket  weaving.  The 
colonists  of  Paxton,  influenced  by  the  harangues  of  a  militant 
pastor,  made  a  descent  on  the  Indian  village.  But  knowl 
edge  of  their  intentions  had  leaked  out,  and  most  of  the 
tribe  had  gotten  away.  However,  three  men,  two  women, 
and  a  young  boy,  who  remained,  were  killed,  and  the  hamlet 
set  on  fire.  Afterward  the  "  Paxton  Boys  "  rode  to  Lancaster, 
where  several  Indian  families,  fourteen  persons  in  all,  had 
been  lodged  in  the  jail  for  protection.  The  raiders  beat 
down  the  jail  door  and  cut  the  fourteen  Indian  men,  women, 
and  children  to  pieces  with  their  hatchets.  This  savagery 
never  was  punished.  Lancaster  became  the  capital  of  the 
state  in  1799,  but  was  supplanted  by  Harrisburg  in  1812. 

At  the  latter  place  is  an  inclosure  in  Harris  Park  which 
contains  the  grave  of  John  Harris,  father  of  the  founder  of 
the  city,  and  the  stump  of  a  tree  to  which  he  was  tied  in  1718 
by  drunken  Indians  who  meant  to  burn  him  alive.  The 
State  House  is  adorned  with  paintings  by  famous  artists. 
Matthew  Quay,  of  odorous  memory  as  a  politician  of  perni 
cious  type,  is  honored  with  a  statue  in  a  niche  in  the  rotunda 
which  seems  to  indicate  his  acceptance  as  the  state's  patron 
saint.  Moreover,  when  the  electric  lights  are  burning  there 
are  curious  reflections  on  the  marble  behind  him  that  sur- 


Pennsylvania 


119 


round  his  head  with  a  halo.  An  attractive  region  to  the 
west  is  the  valley  of  "The  Blue  Juniata,"  a  stream  which 
has  been  immortalized  by  a  song  of  that  title.  Just  beyond 
Altoona,  as  the  railway  climbs  the  Alleghanies,  is  the  re 
nowned  Horseshoe  Curve,  the  sides  of  which  are  parallel,  so 
that  trains  traveling  the  same  way  may  be  moving  in  op 
posite  directions.  In  this 
part  of  the  state  near  the 
junction  of  Blair  and  Bedford 
counties  is  Blue  Knob,  3136 
feet  high,  the  loftiest  summit 
in  Pennsylvania. 

South  of  the  capital,  only 
seven  miles  from  the  Mary 
land  line,  is  Getty  sbuig, 
where  was  fought,  early  in 
July,  1863,  the  most  impor 
tant  battle  of  the  Civil  War. 
The  men  on  the  Union  side 
numbered  about  80,000,  com 
manded  by  Gen.  Meade,  and 
the  Confederates  73,000  led 
by  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee.  In 
no  other  battle  of  the  war 
were  so  many  engaged.  Each  side  lost  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing  more  than  20,000.  The  Confederates  had  de 
cided  to  carry  the  war  north  into  the  enemy's  country,  but 
were  decisively  defeated.  On  the  southern  borders  of  the 
town  is  a  national  cemetery,  at  the  dedication  of  which  in 
November,  1863,  President  Lincoln  made  the  "twenty-line 
address"  which  is  considered  his  most  immortal  utterance. 
The  seventeen  acres  of  this  cemetery  are  the  burial-place  of 
3572  soldiers,  among  whom  are  over  a  thousand  unknown 
dead.  Beyond  it  is  the  most  hotly  contested  portion  of  the 


STATE  HOUSE,  HARRISBURG 


120  What  to  See  in  America 

battlefield,  including  Little  Round  Top,  the  Valley  of  Death, 
the  Devil's  Den,  and  the  Bloody  Angle.  Probably  Gettys 
burg  is  more  lavishly  marked  with  monuments  than  any 
other  battlefield  in  the  world.  There  are  some  five  hundred 
of  them  scattered  over  its  twenty-five  square  miles.  # 

An  important  battle  in  the  Revolution  was  fought  near 
Chadds  Ford  on  Brandywine  Creek,  not  far  from  the  Del 
aware  boundary,  in  September,  1777.  Washington  was 
defeated  in  this  Battle  of  the  Brandywine,  and  in  consequence 
the  Americans  lost  Philadelphia. 

On  the  southern  border  of  the  state,  a  short  distance  east 
of  the  Susquehanna,  Robert  Fulton,  the  inventor,  was 
born  at  Little  Britain  in  1765.  He  went  to  school  only 
enough  to  acquire  the  ability  to  read  and  write,  and  when  he 
was  old  enough  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  Philadelphia  jeweler. 
Bethlehem,  on  the  Lehigh  River,  has  a  certain  romantic 
interest  because  it  was  founded  by  the  Moravians,  which  are 

said  to  constitute  the 
oldest  existing  Protes 
tant  church.  They 
established  a  mission 
there  in  1740,  and  the 
big  simple  house  of 
worship  that  they  built 
a  few  years  later  still 
stands,  serene  and 
beautiful. 

Somewhat  farther 
north  is  an  expansion 
of  the  Susquehanna 
Valley,  about  twenty 
miles  long  and  three  to 
five  miles  wide,  known 

THE  BLUE  JUNIATA  AT  HUNTINGDON  as  the  Valley  of  Wyo- 


Pennsylvania 


121 


BLOODY  ANGLE  AT  GETTYSBURG 


ming.  The  name  is 
of  Indian  derivation 
and  means  "large 
plains."  Its  settle 
ment  began  a  few 
years  before  the  Rev 
olution,  and  by  1778 
there  were  several 
villages  with  school- 
houses  and  churches. 
In  July  of  that  year 
the  Valley  was  in 
vaded  from  the  north 
by  a  wild  aggregation 
of  1200  soldiers,  In 
dians,  and  renegade 

whites  led  by  "Indian  Butler,"  an  able  but  savagely  cruel 
Tory  colonel,  and  by  "Queen  Esther,"  a  half-breed  Seneca 
who  had  been  liberally  educated,  and  who  had  been  petted 
and  feted  by  the  best  society  in  Philadelphia,  Albany,  and 
New  York.  A  force  of  three  hundred  frontiersmen,  many 
of  them  boys  or  old  men,  put  themselves  in  the  path  of  the 
invaders  four  miles  above  Kingston  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river.  They  were  soon  defeated,  and  many  were  killed  or 
captured.  Queen  Esther  had  a  score  of  prisoners  assembled, 
bound  and  kneeling  about  a  great  bowlder  three  miles  farther 
north.  Then  she  seized  a  heavy  tomahawk,  and  shrieked 
a  wild  song  while  she  swept  swiftly  around  the  circle  slaying 
her  victims.  Sixteen  she  killed,  and  four  who  attempted 
flight  were  slain  by  her  warriors.  The  great  bowlder  has 
been  known  as  the  "Bloody  Rock"  ever  since.  The  next 
day  the  Indians  passed  up  and  down  the  entire  valley, 
pillaging,  burning,  and  slaughtering.  Those  of  the  people 
who  evaded  the  foe  fled  eastward  through  the  wilderness, 


122 


What  to  See  in  America 


chiefly  to  Fort  Penn,  sixty  miles  distant,  where  Stroudsburg 
now  stands.  In  one  party  on  the  old  "Warriors'  Path" 
were  nearly  one  hundred  women  and  children  with  only  a 
solitary  man  to  aid  them.  The  fugitives  had  no  food  except 
whortleberries  which  they  picked  in  the  woodland.  Many 
perished,  and  the  vast  marshy  plateau  they  crossed,  which 

even  yet  is  unre 
claimed,  is  still  called 
the  "Shades  of  Death 
Swamp." 

This  part  of  the 
state  is  now  one  of 
the  most  notable  coal 
mining  districts  in 
the  world,  and  half 
the  coal  used  in  the 
United  States  is 
mined  in  Pennsyl 
vania.  It  was  one 
of  Pennsylvania's  blacksmiths  who  first  succeeded  in  using 
anthracite.  In  1792,  when  a  Philadelphia  printer  brought 
to  the  city  several  wagon  loads  of  the  coal  and  offered  to 
give  it  away  in  order  to  introduce  it,  he  was  nearly  mobbed 
for  try  ing  to  impose  on  the  people  with  a  lot  of  "black  stones." 
After  coal  began  to  be  used  in  the  city  the  agents  kept  a 
"specimen  fire"  burning  all  day  long  at  172  Arch  Street  that 
purchasers  might  see  for  themselves  what  an  admirable 
fuel  they  were  buying.  The  original  fireplace  in  which 
anthracite  was  first  burned,  in  1808,  is  preserved  in  an  old 
house  on  Washington  Street  in  Wilkes-Barre.  The  route 
north  from  there  to  Scranton,  by  way  of  Pittston.  is  through 
the  heart  of  the  anthracite  region  and  abounds  in  collieries 
and  the  villages  of  foreign  laborers.  The  larger  mines  wTith 
their  series  of  galleries  on  different  levels  have  miles  and 


ICE    FbOOD    ON    THE    SuSQUEHANNA 


Pennsylvania 


123 


miles  of  shafts  and  tunnels.  Before  the  coal  is  sent  to 
market  it  has  to  be  sorted  so  that  lumps  of  the  same  size 
are  together.  This  is  done  in  great  buildings  called  coal 
breakers  which  stand  close  to  the  mouth  of  the  shafts.  The 
coal  is  hoisted  to  the  top  of  the  breaker,  where  the  larger 
lumps  are  broken  up.  Then  it  passes  down  an  incline  over 
sieves  that  separate  the  sizes.  Breaker  boys  are  employed 
to  watch  the  coal  as  it  slides  along  and  throw  out  the  pieces 
of  rock  that  are  mixed  with  it. 

A  superlatively  important  American  industrial  center  is 
Pittsburg.  It  occupies  the  tongue  of  land  between  the 
Monongahela  and  Alleghany  rivers,  which  there  unite  to 
form  the  Ohio.  George  Washington  established  the  location 
of  the  city  in  November,  1753,  when,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
acting  as  a  government  agent,  he  came  thither  and  decided 
it  was  the  best  place 
in  that  part  of  the 
country  for  a  fort. 
After  he  returned  to 
Virginia  a  force  of 
soldiers  and  work 
men  was  promptly 
dispatched  to  the 
wilderness  and  the 
fort  was  begun.  But 
in  April  there  came 
down  the  Alleghany 
from  Canada  one  thousand  French  and  Indians  with  eighteen 
cannon  in  a  flotilla  of  sixty  bateaux  and  three  hundred  canoes, 
and  the  unfinished  fort  surrendered.  The  French  completed 
it  and  named  it  Duquesne  in  honor  of  the  governor  of  Canada. 
Summer  of  the  next  year  came,  and  Gen.  Braddock,  with 
British  and  colonial  troops,  made  his  way  through  the  forest 
from  Virginia  to  a  spot  about  eight  miles  from  the  fort  on  the 


MORAVIAN  CHURCH,  BEI 


124 


What  to  See  in  America 


north  bank  of  the  Monongahela,  where  now  is  the  busy 
smoke-belching  manufacturing  city  that  bears  his  name. 
The  French  and  Indians  attacked  the  marching  columns 
there,  and  about  three  quarters  of  the  force  was  killed  or 
disabled.  Braddock  was  fatally  wounded,  and  Washington, 
who  was  one  of  his  aides,  had  two  of  the  horses  that  he  rode 
killed,  and  four  bullets  passed  through  his  clothes.  During 
the  disorderly  retreat  of  the  vanquished  their  leader  died. 
His  grave  is  on  the  National  Pike  near  Ohiopyle  in  the  wild 
and  rugged  valley  of  the  Youghiogheny.  Three  years  later, 
when  another  English  expedition  was  sent  against  Fort 
Duquesne,  the  French  blew  up  the  fortifications  and  with 
drew.  A  new  fort  was  erected  to  which  was  given  the  name 
of  the  British  prime  minister,  Pitt.  A  blockhouse  which 
was  part  of  a  later  and  larger  Fort  Pitt  survives. 

The  first  railroad  across  the  Alleghanies  reached  Pittsburg 
in  1847,  and  since  then  the  city's  development  has  been 
rapid.  It  is  an  important  gateway  to  the  West,  but  the 
chief  secret  of  its  growth  is  its  position  in  the  center  of  a 
region  exceedingly  rich  in  bituminous  coal,  iron,  oil,  arid 
natural  gas.  Indeed,  much  of  this  tributary  district  is  a 
veritable  "Black  Country,"  full  of  coal-pits,  coke-ovens, 
and  smelting-furnaces.  Pittsburg's  situation  has  a  good 
deal  of  natural  beauty,  with  its  rolling  plateaus  and  the 

rivers  closely  hemmed  in 
by  high  hills  or  precipitous 
bluffs.  But  iron  furnaces 
and  factories  extend  for 
miles  along  the  streams, 
and  the  city  seldom 
emerges  from  its  pall  of 
smoke.  Its  right  to  be 
called  the  "Smoky  City" 
A  COAL  BREAKER  is  vindicated  not  only  by 


Pennsylvania 


125 


©  Detroit  Photo  Co. 
BLOCK  HOUSE,  PITTSBURG 


its  atmosphere,  but  by 
the  discovery  that  the 
average  resident  carries 
in  his  lungs  a  quarter  of 
a  pint  of  soot.  As  viewed 
from  the  uplands  at  night, 
when  the  furnace  flames 
leap  and  glow  amid  the 
gloom  beside  the  water 
ways,  it  has  been  likened 
to  hell  with  the  lid  oil'. 
Pittsburg  has  more  mil 
lionaires  than  any  other  city  on  the  globe,  and  the  finest 
residences  and  grounds  in  America. 

Nineteen  miles  down  the  Ohio  is  the  charming  old  com 
munistic  village  of  Economy,  founded  by  a  peculiar  religious 
sect  known  as  Harmonists  or  Economites.  About  five  hun 
dred  of  these  people  moved  here  from  New  Harmony,  Indiana, 
in  1824.  They  taught  that  the  condition  of  celibacy  is  most 
pleasing  to  God,  that  the  coming  of  Christ  and  renovation  of 
the  world  were  near  at  hand,  and  that  goods  should  be  held 
in  common.  As  time  went  on  they  increased  in  wealth  but 
decreased  in  numbers,  and  at  last  they  sold  out,  and  the 
society  came  to  an  end.  Many  of  their  quaint  buildings 
have  endured  to  this  day. 

Johnstown,  seventy-seven  miles  east  of  Pittsburg,  is  well 
known  because  of  the  inundation  that  overwhelmed  it  on 
May  31,  1889.  It  is  an  iron-making  city  at  the  junction  of 
the  deep  narrow  valleys  of  the  Conemaugh  River  and  Stony 
Creek.  Eighteen  miles  above  Johnstown  was  Conemaugh 
Lake,  about  three  .miles  long  and  one  mile  broad.  This  was 
a  fishing  resort  of  a  club  of  Pittsburg  anglers.  The  waters 
were  restrained  by  a  dam  one  thousand  feet  long,  and  one 
hundred  and  ten  feet  high,  ninety  feet  thick  at  the  base,  and 


126 


What  to  See  in  America 


twenty-five  feet  thick  at  the  top.  Violent  rains  filled  the 
lake  to  overflowing  and  about  three  o'clock  that  May  after 
noon  a  three-hundred-foot  gap  was  broken  in  the  dam. 
The  water  swept  down  the  valley  in  a  mass  a  half  mile  broad 
and  forty  feet  high,  carrying  everything  in  its  way.  In  seven 
minutes  it  had  reached  Johnstown.  A  little  below  the  city 

?s|  the  mass  of  houses,  trees, 
machinery,  and  other 
wreckage  was  checked 
by  a  railway  bridge.  It 
caught  fire,  and  many 
persons,  unable  to  free 
themselves  from  the 
debris,  were  burned  to 
death.  The  estimated 
total  loss  of  life  varies 
from  2300  to  5000. 
Property  to  the  value  of 
at  least  $10,000,000  was 
destroyed. 

Western  Pennsylvania 
u  a  famous  region  for 
petroleum.  The  name 
means  rock  oil,  and  is 
suggestive  of  the  source 
whence  the  petroleum  comes.  In  the  oil  region,  even  in 
traveling  on  the  train,  one  sees  numerous  oil  wells,  both  in 
operation  and  deserted.  The  great  center  of  this  oil  dis 
trict  is  Oil  City,  and  there  you  can  see  all  the  processes  of 
procuring,  preparing,  and  shipping  the  oil  and  its  products. 
It  is  estimated  that  from  the  valley  of  Oil  Creek,  north  of 
Oil  City,  oil  to  the  value  of  $200,000,000  was  taken  in  the 
ten  busy  early  years.  The  present  yield  is  insignificant. 
Titusville  has  an  especial  claim  on  the  sight-seer  because  there 


OLD  CHURCH  AT  ECONOMY 


Pennsylvania  127 

the  underground  reservoir  of  oil  was  first  tapped  by  boring 
in  1859.  Interesting  visits  may  be  made  down  the  creek 
to  the  hamlets  wrhich  grew  with  magic  rapidity  into  populous 
cities  in  the  boom  period,  and  almost  as  suddenly  vanished. 
The  oil  in  its  natural  state  is  a  thick  dark  yellow  or  brownish 
fluid,  but  when  refined  becomes  clear  colorless  kerosene  oil. 
From  the  wells  the  oil  goes  to  the  refineries  in  pipes,  some  of 
which  are  hundreds  of  miles  long. 

Up  in  the  northwest  corner,  the  state  has  a  fifty-mile  coast 
line  on  Lake  Erie,  where  the  most  populous  city  is  one  with 
the  same  name  as  the  lake.  The  city  is  a  fishing  port  of  im 
portance,  which  lends  its  wharves  a  certain  attraction,  and 
on  its  outskirts,  overlooking  the  lake,  is  a  facsimile  of  an 
old  French  blockhouse  that  used  to  stand  there.  The  grape 
industry  flourishes  all  the  way  from  here  to  Buffalo,  and  the 
country  is  most  lusciously  attractive  in  autumn  when  the 
harvest  is  in  progress. 


THE  SPOT  NEAR  LEWES  WHERE  THE  FIRST  SETTLEMENT  WAS  FOUNDED 


XI 

Delaware 

The  three  smallest  states  in  the  Union  are  Rhode  Island, 
Delaware,  and  Connecticut ;  and  Delaware  is  about  twice  the 
size  of  the  first  and  half  the  size  of  the  last.  Its  length  is  one 
hundred  miles  and  its  width  from  ten  to  thirty-five  miles. 
It  is  popularly  called  the  "Diamond  State,"  because  it 
combines  smallness  with  importance.  For  the  most  part  it 
is  low  and  level,  but  in  the  extreme  north  are  hills,  valleys, 
and  rapid  streams.  At  Centerville,  which  is  one  of  the 
northernmost  villages  in  the  state,  is  the  highest  point, 
four  hundred  and  forty  feet  above  the  sea.  Nature  offers 
so  few  obstructions  in  some  sections  that  the  railroads  are 
remarkably  free  from  curves.  Northward  from  Dover, 
beginning  near  Cheswold,  is  a  fifteen-mile  stretch  of  perfectly 
straight  track,  and  a  score  of  miles  south  of  Dover  is  the 
starting  point  of  another  piece  of  straight  track  of  similar 
length. 

128 


Delaware 


129 


The  first  settlement  was  made  in  1631  by  thirty  or  forty 
Dutch  colonists  on  Delaware  Bay  near  Lewes.  All  might 
have  gone  well  with  them  had  they  not  set  up  a  tin  plate 
bearing  the  arms  of  Holland.  This  was  destroyed  by  an 
Indian  who  did  not  know  its  meaning.  The  Dutch  con 
sidered  the  act  an  insult  to  their  nation  and  insisted  that 
the  offender  should  be  turned  over  to  them  by  his  fellow- 
tribesmen.  Hostilities  ensued,  and  the  colonists  were 
massacred  to  the  last  man.  Friends  who  arrived  in  a  vessel 
the  next  year  found  nothing  but  heaps  of  ashes  and  charred 
bones. 

In  1638  Swedes  came  in  two  ships  from  their  native  land 
and  built  a  fort  on  the  site  of  Wilmington.  They  called  the 
country  New  Sweden,  and 
they  named  the  settlement 
Christina  after  their  child 
queen.  More  Swedes  came 
and  spread  over  the  sur 
rounding  country.  Then,  in 
1651,  the  Dutch  set  up  a 
fort  five  miles  below  Chris 
tina  at  what  is  now  New 
Castle.  Three  years  later  a 
Swedish  war  vessel  put  an 
end  to  it.  That  roused  the 
Dutch  of  New  Amsterdam,  and  the  next  year  their  bluster 
ing  governor,  Peter  Stuyvesant,  entered  Delaware  Bay  with 
a  fleet  bearing  over  six  hundred  men.  The  Swedes  were 
overawed,  New  Sweden  ceased  to  exist,  and,  though  the 
Swedes  continued  to  prosper,  they  gradually  lost  their  iden 
tity  and  language. 

Dutch  dominion  ended  with  the  conquest  of  New  Amster 
dam  by  the  English  in  1664,  and  Delaware  became  a  posses 
sion  of  the  Duke  of  York.  In  order  that  no  other  settlements 


FRIENDS'  MEETINGHOUSE, 
WILMINGTON 


130 


What  to  See  in  America 


should  encroach  on  New  Castle,  the  center  of  government, 
the  northern  boundary  was  determined  by  drawing  an  arc 
of  a  circle  twelve  miles  in  radius,  and  that  curve  has  remained 
ever  since.  In  1680  the  Duke  leased  the  territory  to  William 
Penn  for  10,000  years,  and  for  the  next  century  it  was  a 
part  of  Pennsylvania.  A  single  regiment  of  Delaware 

soldiers  fought  in  the  Pievo- 
lution  and  did  valiant  service. 
They  carried  a  number  of 
gamecocks,  said  to  have  been 
the  brood  of  a  blue  hen. 
Hence  the  soldiers  themselves 
were  dubbed  the  "Blue  Hen's 
Chickens,"  a  name  that  later 
was  applied  to  the  people  of 
the  state. 

Delaware's  only  large  city 
is  Wilmington,  with  extensive 
manufactures,  including  the 
making  of  iron,  steel,  car 
riages,  railway  cars,  ships, 
gunpowder,  and  cotton  goods. 
No  other  place  has  over  5000  inhabitants.  Even  Dover, 
the  capital,  has  much  the  character  of  a  country  town.  Just 
back  of  the  State  House,  near  the  jail,  is  a  whipping 
post,  not  now  used,  but  interesting  as  a  relic  of  the  public 
whippings  administered  not  many  years  ago.  On  one  of 
the  pleasantly  shaded  residence  streets  is  a  haunted  house. 
It  is  a  fine  colonial  mansion  in  which  the  slaves  of  the  town 
gathered  for  festivity  on  a  night  when  the  white  folks  were 
having  a  banquet  at  the  governor's  mansion.  Slave  traders 
surprised  the  blacks,  who  took  refuge  in  the  cellar  and  tried 
to  defend  themselves.  Forty  were  killed  there,  and  many 
of  the  survivors  were  carried  off.  Those  who  were  slain  still 


STATE  HOUSE  AT  DOVER 


Delaware 


131 


haunt  the  premises.  Dover  and  New  Castle  and  other  early 
places  are  famous  for  their  charming  old  houses,  which  are 
especially  remarkable  for  their  beautiful  entrance  doorways 
and  wonderfully  carved  interior  woodwork.  One  such  town 
is  Lewes  at  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware.  This  and  some 
of  the  neighboring  coast  towns  have  a  good  deal  of  attrac 
tion  as  vacation  resorts. 

Down  at  the  southern  end  of  the  state,  lying  half  in  Mary 
land,  is  the  Great  Cypress  Swamp,  covering  50,000  acres. 
In  the  swamp  are  buried  many  logs  of  well  preserved  timber 
which  are  dug  up  and  worked  into  shingles  and  other  small 
lumber  products. 

Delaware  bears  the  name  of  an  early  governor  of  Virginia 
who  sailed  up  the  river  in  1610. 


t    xs  Chanibersburg*        ••»      York*     \ 

_V_]_  Cumb.rJ.nd  _|     _  /  \ 

,  T*A  'j  *~rSa  •""'*"         \ 


GREAT  FALLS  OF  THE  POTOMAC  NEAR  WASHINGTON 

XII 

Maryland 

The  first  settlement  in  Maryland  was  a  trading  post  estab 
lished  on  Kent  Island  in  Chesapeake  Bay  in  1631.  Three 
years  later  a  colony  started  the  town  of  St.  Mary's  on  a  bluff 
overlooking  the  broad  river  of  the  same  name  not  far  from 
where  this  stream  joins  the  Potomac,  near  the  latter's  mouth. 
The  settlers  were  twenty  "gentlemen  adventurers"  and 
about  three  hundred  laborers  who  came  from  England  in  a 
little  ship,  the  Ark,  and  her  attendant  pinnace,  the  Dove. 
An  Indian  village  on  the  bluff  was  bought  with  iron  hatchets 
and  hoes  and  pieces  of  cloth.  Scarcely  a  trace  of  the  old 
settlement  now  remains. 

Lord  Baltimore,  to  whom  Charles  I  granted  the  region 
vaguely  described  as  "north  of  Virginia,"  was  required  to 
pay  the  king  two  Indian  arrows  yearly  in  token  of  homage, 
and  a  fifth  part  of  whatever  gold  or  silver  might  be  mined. 
But  as  no  precious  metals  were  produced  in  the  colony 
this  rental  amounted  to  nothing.  The  king  named  the 
colony  Maryland  in  honor  of  his  queen  Henrietta  Maria. 

132 


Maryland 


133 


The  northern  boundary  was  long  a  subject  of  dispute  with 
Pennsylvania,  and  finally,  in  1767,  two  English  surveyors, 
Mason  and  Dixon,  were  employed  to  fix  the  line.  They 
ran  it  straight  east  and  west,  two  hundred  and  thirty 
miles,  where  it  is  now,  and  thus  Maryland  acquired  its 
popular  name  of  the  "Old  Line  State." 

Maryland's  chief  city  is  Baltimore,  one  of  the  greatest  of 
American  seaports,  fourteen  miles  up  the  Patapsco  River 
from  Chesapeake  Bay.  It  was  settled  in  1709,  but  had  only 
two  hundred  inhabitants  in  1752.  After  that  it  developed 
rapidly.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  has  said  that  three  short 
American  poems,  each  the  best  of  its  kind,  were  all  written 
in  Baltimore  —  Key's  "Star  Spangled  Banner,"  Poe's 
"Raven,"  and  Randall's  "Maryland,  My  Maryland."  The 
circumstances  of  the  production  of  the  first  of  these  are 
especially  noteworthy.  In  September,  1814,  the  British 
attempted  to  capture 
Baltimore,  and  Francis 
Scott  Key  went  to  the 
enemy  fleet  in  a  small 
boat  flying  a  flag  of 
truce  to  plead  for  the 
release  of  a  civilian 
friend  who  was  held 
captive  on  one  of  the 
vessels.  Lord  Cock- 
burn,  commander  of 
the  fleet,  detained  Key. 
He  was  about  to  bom 
bard  Fort  McHenry  on 
Whetstone  Point,  and 
boasted  that  its  flag 
would  be  hauled  down 
in  a  few  hours.  The  FORT  MCHENRY  AT  BALTIMORE 


134  What  to  See  in  America 

bombardment  began  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  and  contin 
ued  through  the  following  night.  When  day  broke,  the  flag 
was  still  there,  and  in  the  gray  dawn,  Key,  who  had  been 
an  anxious  onlooker,  wrote  on  the  back  of  a  letter  which 
he  laid  on  a  barrel-head  the  thoughts  that  had  been  pass 
ing  through  his  mind.  Within  a  week  the  verses  were 
printed  in  the  Baltimore  Patriot.  Soon  afterward  they  were 
first  sung  in  a  restaurant  of  the  city.  The  song  was  caught 
up  in  intense  enthusiasm,  and  is  now  heard  wherever  the 
national  flag  has  gone  in  every  portion  of  the  globe. 

In  April,  1861,  great  excitement  was  created  in  the  North 
by  an  attack  on  the  6th  Massachusetts  Regiment  in  the 
Baltimore  streets.  This  was  the  first  full  regiment  to  respond 
to  President  Lincoln's  call  for  troops.  After  suffering  from 
an  assault  with  stones,  clubs,  and  pistols,  which  cost  three 
soldiers  their  lives,  a  part  of  the  regiment  fired  on  the  rnob, 
killing  eleven  and  wounding  many  others. 

The  business  section  of  the  city  was  visited  in  1904  by  a 
conflagration  that  swept  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  and 
destroyed  property  to  the  value  of  $70,000,000.  Yet  the 
city  rose  from  the  ruins  with  magic  swiftness,  and  in  the 
upbuilding  streets  were  widened,  skyscrapers  erected,  smooth 
pavements  laid  where  before  there  had  been  cobble,  and 
sewers  were  substituted  for  cesspools,  and  for  domestic 
drainage  which  had  been  emptied  into  the  wayside  gutters. 

Baltimore  is  called  the  "Monumental  City"  on  account  of 
the  number  of  commemorative  structures  in  its  public 
squares.  It  has  the  noblest  forest  park  in  the  United  States, 
a  six-hundred-acre  tract  of  ancient  woodland  known  as 
Druid  Hill.  In  Westminster  Presbyterian  Churchyard  is  the 
grave  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  who  died  in  the  city.  Old  Fort 
McHenry  is  worthy  of  a  visit ;  and  so  are  the  Walters'  Art 
Gallery,  one  of  the  finest  in  America,  and  the  big  Lexington 
Market,  which  picturesquely  illustrates  Southern  produce 


Maryland 


135 


OYSTER  BOATS  IN  THE  LOWER  POTOMAC 


and  manners.  Of  all  the  city's  various  institutions  none 
has  brought  it  more  honor  than  the  University  and  Hospital 
which  bear  the 
name  of  Johns 
Hopkins.  He 
founded  and  en 
dowed  them  with 
wealth  amassed 
as  a  Baltimore 
merchant. 

The  first  Am 
erican  telegraph 
line  was  built 
from  Baltimore 
to  Washington, 
forty-two  miles,  in  1844.  On  the  road  to  Washington,  ten 
miles  from  Baltimore,  is  the  town  of  Relay,  so  named  be 
cause  here  were  changed  the  horses  that  drew  the  cars  on 
the  first  passenger  railway  in  America.  Construction  of 
the  railway  was  begun  July  4,  1828.  The  first  locomotive 

used  on  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  tracks  was  the 
"Tom  Thumb,"  made  by 
Peter  Cooper,  who  served 
as  its  engineer  when  it 
made  a  thirty-mile  trial 
trip  to  Ellicotts  Mills  and 
back  to  Baltimore,  in 
August,  1830. 

Maryland  is  almost  cut 
in  two  by  Chesapeake 
Bay,  the  largest  inlet  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United  States.  The  Bay  is  two 
hundred  miles  long  and  from  ten  to  twenty  broad,  and  is 


THE  CHURCH  JOHN  BROWN  ATTENDED 
WHEN  PLOTTING  TO  CAPTURE  HARP 
ER'S  FERRY 


136 


What  to  See  in  America 


navigable  for  the  largest  vessels.  It  is  a  favorite  resort  for 
sportsmen,  and  its  ducks,  fish,  terrapin,  and  oysters  have  a 
wide  reputation.  Baltimore  is  especially  noted  for  the  size 
of  its  oyster  fleet,  which  is  in  part  sailing  vessels  and  in 
part  little  steamers. 

Quaint  old  Annapolis,  twenty-seven  miles  south  of  Balti 
more,  on  the  banks  of  the  Severn  River,  with  the  great 

B a}' near  at  hand, 
is  the  capital  of 
the  state.  The 
seat  of  govern 
ment  was  moved 
thither  from  St. 
Marys  in  1694. 
During  the  co 
lonial  period  it 
was  one  of  the 
most  important 
social  centers, 
and  ranked  with 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Charleston  in  its  display  of 
wealth  and  fashion.  Dinners,  parties,  and  balls  were  numer 
ous,  and  card  playing,  gambling,  horse  racing,  cockfight- 
ing,  and  dueling  were  indulged  in  with  fervor.  Here  is  the 
United  States  Naval  Academy,  opened  in  1845,  and  here, 
on  the  grounds  of  St.  John's  College,  is  the  famous  "Tree 
of  Liberty"  —a  very  old  tulip  tree  with  a  girth  of  thirty 
feet.  Beneath  this  tree's  spreading  branches  the  early  set 
tlers,  who  built  their  first  huts  here  in  1649,  made  a  treaty 
with  the  Indians.  Annapolis  still  retains  much  of  its  old- 
time  appearance,  and  the  traveler  finds  delight  in  the  quiet 
streets,  where  low  and  broad  houses  of  red  brick,  that  have 
white  facings  and  columned  porticos  wreathed  with  creep 
ers,  stand  in  gardens  of  blooming  flowers  and  shrubs. 


THE  BURNSIDE  BRIDGE,  AXTIETAM  BATTLEFIELD 


Maryland  137 

One  of  the  most  attractive  features  of  the  Potomac  is 
the  Great  Falls,  fifteen  miles  above  Washington.  The  river 
channel  here  is  a  chaos  of  jagged  ledges  amid  which  the 
stream  has  worn  various  tortuous  channels,  and  the  water 
surges  down  through  the  rocks  in  a  smother  of  white  waves, 
and  then  makes  a  sudden  leap  to  a  lower  level.  The  rapids 
below  the  falls  are  a  favorite  spring  resort  of  shad  fishermen, 
who  dip  out  the  fish  with  scoop  nets.  The  water  supply  for 
Washington  comes  from  above  the  falls,  and  a  half  dozen 
miles  downstream  is  carried  across  Cabin  John  Creek  by  an 
aqueduct  bridge  which,  with  one  exception,  is  the  longest 
stone  arch  bridge  in  the  world.  Jefferson  Davis  was  Secre 
tary  of  War  when  the  bridge  was  built,  and  his  name  was 
cut  into  one  of  the  stones.  After  he  became  president  of  the 
Confederacy  his  name  was  chiseled  off,  but  many  years 
later  it  was  restored  by  order  of  President  Roosevelt. 

Toward  the  north  part  of  the  state  is  Frederick,  where 
dwelt,  in  a  small  brick  house  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  a 
very  old  and  intensely  loyal  woman  named  Barbara  Frietchie, 
born  in  1766.  She  became  the  heroine  of  Whittier's  famous 
poem  in  her  exploit  with  the  flag  and  Stonewall  Jackson. 
Here  is  buried  in  Mt.  Olivet  Cemetery  the  author  of  the 
"Star  Spangled  Banner,"  who  was  born  in  the  vicinity  in 
1779.  Somewhat  to  the  west  was  fought  the  great  Battle  of 
Antietam  in  September,  1862.  Notable  in  the  fight  were  the 
terrible  carnage  at  Bloody  Lane  and  the  charge  of  Gen. 
Burnside  at  the  stone  bridge  over  Antietam  Creek. 

In  the  mountainous  northwestern  part  of  the  state  both 
life  and  nature  are  very  individual,  primitive,  and  interesting. 
Near  the  West  Virginia  boundary  is  Backbone  Mountain,  the 
highest  in  Maryland,  with  an  elevation  of  3340  feet.  The 
people  of  the  state  have  the  nickname  of  "Craw-thumpers/' 
a  local  name  for  lobsters.  Craw  means  claw,  and  the  rest  of 
the  word  is  suggested  by  the  slamming  motion  of  the  creatures. 


THE  CAPITOL 


XIII 

The  Nation's  Capital 

The  powerful  Algonquin  tribe  at  one  time  had  its  capital 
within  the  confines  of  what  is  now  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Powhatan  lived  in  a  wigwam  at  the  present  Washington 
suburb  known  as  Anacostia.  Capt.  John  Smith  sailed  past 
here  in  1608,  and  recorded  that  he  found  the  river  full  of 
luscious  fish,  and  its  shores  lined  with  ferocious  savages. 
A  party  of  immigrants  came  to  the  region  in  1660,  and  by 
dint  of  fighting  and  bargaining  made  the  Indians  move  on. 
Then  the  newcomers  began  to  till  the  soil. 

After  the  colonies  had  won  their  independence,  and  the 
question  of  selecting  a  permanent  site  for  a  capital  had  to 
be  decided,  all  agreed  that  it  should  be  fixed  as  near  as 
possible  to  what  would  remain  the  center  of  population, 
which,  in  1790,  was  twenty-three  miles  east  of  Baltimore. 
Some  were  convinced  that  it  would  stay  indefinitely  in  the 

138 


The  Nation's  Capital  139 

North  and  others  that  the  tides  of  humanity  would  flow 
toward  the  warm  and  fertile  South.  None  foresaw  the 
transformation  that  would  be  wrought  by  railroads  and 
telegraphy,  and  the  teeming  civilization  destined  to  develop 
in  the  western  solitudes.  By  1910  the  center  of  population 
was  in  Bloomington,  Indiana. 

When  Congress  finally  agreed  in  1790  to  establish  the 
capital  on  the  Potomac,  it  simply  designated  a  strip  eighty 
miles  long  from  which  President  Washington  was  to  choose 
the  location.  Washington  himself  therefore  walked  through 
the  wilderness  with  his  surveying  instruments  and  his 
assistants,  and  discussed  terms  and  titles  at  the  Georgetown 
tavern  with  the  owners  of  the  land.  The  District  of  Colum 
bia  was  at  first  ten  miles  square  and  included  a  tract  on  each 
side  of  the  Potomac,  but  that  on  the  southern  side  was  later 
relinquished,  diminishing  the  area  to  sixty-nine  square 
miles.  The  topographical  plan  of  the  city  was  devised  by  a 
French  engineer  who  had  served  in  the  Continental  Army. 
He  based  it  on  that  of  Versailles,  the  seat  of  government  in 
France.  The  plan  was  on  such  a  grand  scale,  and  the  actual 
growth  so  slow  for  many  years  that  Washington  was  often 
satirically  called  the  "City  of  Magnificent  Distances." 

Long  straight  avenues  were  cut  through  the  forest,  and 
on  September  18,  1793,  the  southeast  corner  stone  of  the 
Capitol  was  laid  by  the  President.  After  the  exercises  ended 
the  assemblage  retired  to  an  extensive  booth  to  partake  of 
a  barbecued  ox,  and  presently  fifteen  volleys  of  artillery 
concluded  the  festival.  The  White  House  was  begun  a 
year  earlier  and  was  ready  for  use  in  1799.  John  Adams  was 
the  first  President  to  occupy  it.  Mrs.  Adams  says  in  one 
of  her  letters:  "The  lighting  of  the  apartments  from  the 
kitchen  to  parlors  and  chambers  is  a  tax  indeed.  The 
great  unfinished  East  Room  I  make  a  drying-room  to  hang 
my  clothes  in." 


140 


What  to  See  in  America 


THE  WHITE  HOUSE 


Washington  called 
the  place  Federal 
City,  but  after  he 
died  it  received  his 
name.  When  the 
seat  of  government 
was  moved  from  Phil 
adelphia  to  the  new 
capital  in  1800,  de 
partment  records  and 
equipment  were  sent 

by  vessels,  and  the  clerks  and  officials  journeyed  with  their 
families  by  stage.  They  found  Washington  very  inade 
quately  prepared  to  receive  them,  and  those  who  could  not 
crowd  into  the  few  hotels  and  other  buildings  had  to  resort 
to  Georgetown,  three  miles  away,  through  mud  and  forest. 
Only  one  government  building  was  finished,  and  Pennsyl 
vania  Avenue,  the  principal  thoroughfare,  was  a  bog  lined 
by  bushes.  The  original  intention  was  to  build  the  city  on 
the  salubrious  high  ground  immediately  around  the  Capitol, 
and  that  the  President's  house  should  be  a  secluded,  comfort 
able  retreat  amid  ^ 
ample  grounds  in 
the  suburbs.  But 
the  people  per-  >, 
sisted  in  build 
ing  on  the  low 
ground  adjacent 
to  the  broad 
Pennsylvania 
Avenue  which 
led  from  the  Cap 
itol  to  the  Ex 
ecutive  Mansion.  SAILBOATS  UNLOADING  WOOD  AT  WTHAKVES 


The  Nation's  Capital 


141 


Before    Mrs.    Madison,    the 


On  August  24,  1814,  a  British  force  of  5000,  after  defeat 
ing  a  somewhat  larger  body  of  Americans,  mostly  militia, 
at  Bladensburg,  encamped  at  nightfall  close  to  Washington, 
and  details  of  troops  burned  the  Capitol,  White  House, 
Treasury,  and  Navy  Yard.  The  conflagration  lit  up  the 
whole  surrounding  country 
wife  of  the  President,  left 
the  city,  she  secured  Gil 
bert  Stuart's  celebrated 
portrait  of  Washington, 
and  the  original  draft  of 
the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  to  carry  with 
her.  The  stone  walls  of 
the  President's  mansion 
remained  standing,  and 
when  the  building  was 
restored  the  stone  was 
painted  white  to  obliter 
ate  the  marks  of  the  fire. 
Thus  it  acquired  the  name 
by  which  it  is  commonly 
known. 

The    city    developed 

slowly.  Very  little  paving  had  been  done  by  1860,  and 
most  of  the  streets  were  worse  than  country  roads.  In  sum 
mer  the  dust  rose  in  clouds,  and  in  winter  the  streets  were 
well-nigh  impassable  with  mud.  Street  railways  did  not 
exist  until  1862.  The  Civil  War  transformed  the  city  into 
a  vast  military  camp  and  hospital.  Long  trains  of  army 
wagons  were  almost  constantly  passing  through  the  streets, 
and  at  times  many  churches,  public  institutions,  and  the 
Capitol  itself  were  given  up  to  hospital  service. 

The  dome  and  two  wings  of  the  Capitol  were  built  between 


WASHINGTON  MONUMENT 


142 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  years  1851  and  1865.  The  wings  are  marble,  but  the 
main  building  is  sandstone  painted  white.  The  dome  is 
one  of  the  stateliest  in  the  world,  and  its  impressiveness  is 
aided  by  the  admirable  situation  of  the  building  on  a  dominat 
ing  hilltop  which  rises  ninety  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
Potomac.  On  the  tip  of  the  dome  is  a  bronze  statue  of 
Liberty,  sixteen  and  one  half  feet  high.  The  building  covers 
three  and  one  half  acres  and  is  in  a  fifty-acre  park.  An  odd 
feature  of  the  interior  is  a  Whispering  Gallery  in  the  rotunda. 
The  White  House,  a  trifle  over  a  mile  distant,  is  no  less 
satisfying  in  its  stately  simplicity,  and  its  generous  grounds, 
seventy -five  acres  in  extent,  that  sweep  down  to  the  Potomac 
River.  There,  by  the  waterside,  is  the  Washington  Monu 
ment,  a  widely-famed  architectural  feature  of  the  city, 
chiefly  impressive  because  of  its  height,  for  it  is  an  absolutely 
unornamented,  tapering  marble  shaft,  more  severely  plain 

tkan  a  factory  chimney.  The 
obelisk  was  begun  in  1848, 
but  work  on  it  ceased  in  1854 
when  it  had  reached  a  height 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six 
feet  and  was  not  resumed  un 
til  1877.  It  was  finished  in 
1884,  at  a  cost  of  $2,000,000. 
From  the  floor  to  the  tip  it 
soars  up  five  hundred  and 
fifty-five  feet,  and  for  years 
it  was  the  highest  masonry 
structure  in  the  world.  It 
can  be  ascended  either  by  a 
fatiguing  climb  of  its  nine 
hundred  steps  or  by  elevator. 
The  walls  are  fifteen  feet 

SAINT  GAUDENS  STATUE,    GRIEF,  . 

IN  ROCK  CREEK  CEMETERY  thick    at     the    entrance,     but 


The  Nation ys  Capital 


143 


WASHINGTON  CANAL 


gradually  thin  to  eighteen  inches  at  the  top.  The  immen 
sity  of  the  monument  is  only  fully  appreciated  when  one 
stands  right  at 
its  base,  but  it  is 
seen  to  best  ad 
vantage  from  an 
adjacent  island 
park. 

Summer  heat 
and  winter  bleak 
ness  detract  from 
the  charm  of  the 
city,  and  the 
ideal  months  for 
a  visit  are  May  and  October.  Of  all  American  cities 
Washington  has  the  largest  negro  population  —  about 
100,000,  but  New  York  and  New  Orleans  are  close  seconds. 
Everywhere  are  the  vast  structures  necessary  for  carrying 
on  the  nation's  business.  On  the  same  hill  occupied  by  the 
Capitol  is  the  enormous  Congressional  Library,  finished  in 
1897  at  a  cost  of  $6,000,000,  and  capable  of  containing  four 
and  one  half  million  volumes.  Its  sumptuous  adornments 
of  painting,  sculpture,  colored  marbles,  and  gilding  have 
special  interest.  The  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing  is 
the  largest  printing  plant  in  the  world.  Here  you  can  see 
paper  money,  bonds,  and  stamps  in  the  process  of  manu 
facture,  and  visit  an  exhibit  of  old-time  fractional  currency 
-"shinplasters"  —  and  see  a  $10,000  gold  certificate,  the 
largest  note  issued.  Among  the  many  treasures  at  the 
Museum  of  Natural  History  are  the  Roosevelt  African 
trophies,  complete  group  studies  of  North  American  Indians, 
showing  their  habits  and  ceremonies,  and  exhibits  illustrating 
early  man  in  various  countries.  The  Botanic  Gardens  and 
Smithsonian  Institution  also  have  exceptional  attractions. 


144  What  to  See  in  America 

The  Union  Railway  Station  is  a  fitting  companion  to  the 
best  of  the  government  buildings  in  architectural  beauty 
and  size.  Many  wonderful  paintings  can  be  seen  at  the 
Corcoran  Gallery  and  the  National  Gallery  of  Art.  On  10th 
Street  is  Ford's  Theater  where  Lincoln  was  shot.  Just 
across  the  street  is  the  house  in  which  he  died,  and  which  is 
now  a  repository  for  Lincoln  relics.  Near  by  is  Baptist 
Alley  through  which  John  Wilkes  Booth  escaped.  Rock 
Creek  Cemetery  should  be  visited,  if  for  no  other  reason, 
because  it  contains  Saint  Gaudens'  noble  monument  to 
Mrs.  Henry  Adams.  The  city  wharves  along  the  Potomac 
are  not  without  touches  of  the  picturesque,  and  a  canal 
comes  into  the  place  high  up  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river, 
to  which  it  descends  by  a  series  of  locks.  Coal  brought  from 
the  mines  in  the  Cumberland  Mountains  is  the  ordinary  canal 
boat  cargo. 

Within  easy  reach  of  Washington  are  various  noteworthy 
attractions,  including  Arlington,  which  was  the  home  of 
Gen.  Lee,  old  Alexandria,  Mt.  Vernon,  and  the  Great  Falls 
of  the  Potomac. 


OLD  YORKTOWN 

XIV 

Virginia 

The  first  settlers  of  Virginia  were  a  colony  of  gentlemen  of 
fortune,  and  persons  of  no  occupation,  twelve  laborers,  and 
a  few  mechanics,  somewhat  over  one  hundred  in  all,  and 
more  intent  on  finding  gold  than  on  making  homes  in  the 
wilderness.  These  were  the  founders  of  Jamestown,  about 
thirty-five  miles  from  Chesapeake  Bay  up  the  James  River, 
They  arrived  May  13,  1607.  Diseases  swept  off  half  of  them 
the  first  summer.  Had  it  not  been  for  Capt.  John  Smith 
they  all  would  have  returned  to  England.  Smith  was  a 
leader  with  ability  to  rule.  He  punished  idleness  with 
starvation.  To  cure  profane  swearing  he  had  a  daily  account 
kept  of  a  man's  oaths,  and  at  night,  as  a  penalty  for  each 
oath,  he  poured  a  can  of  cold  water  down  the  offender's  sleeve. 
Jamestown  is  on  an  island  of  about  1600  acres,  separated 
from  the  mainland  by  a  creek  a  few  rods  wide.  In  a  little 
grove  at  the  west  end  of  the  island  is  what  is  left  of  the  old 
settlement  —  a  few  graves  and  a  ruinous  brick  church  tower, 
L  145 


146 


What  to  See  in  America, 


close  to  the  shore  of  the  broad  river.  Here,  too,  are  the 
heavy  earthworks  of  a  fort  that  was  one  of  the  outlying 
defenses  of  Richmond  in  the  Civil  War.  A  neighboring 
grassy  level  was  the  "Courting  Green,"  or  "Kissing 
Meadow,"  where  was  auctioned  in  the  year  1619  "a  shipload 
of  respectable  maidens  for  wives  to  the  planters."  You 
can  also  visit  the  spot  on  which  were  sold  that  same  year 
twenty  "negars"  brought  to  Jamestown  by  a  Dutch  man- 
of-war.  This  was  the  beginning  of  negro  slavery  in  the 
United  States.  The  church,  now  represented  by  the  ruined 
tower,  was  erected  about  1680.  In  an  earlier  wooden  church 
Pocahontas  was  married  to  John  Rolfe  in  1614.  Many 
Virginians  and  others  are  proud  of  their  descent  from 
Pocahontas.  Two  of  her  descendants  were  Presidents 
William  Henry  Harrison  and  Benjamin  Harrison.  Another 

became  the  wife  of  Presi 
dent  Wilson  in  1915. 
Jamestown  was  burned 
in  1676  during  Bacon's 
Rebellion,  and  nothing 
was  left  standing  except 
a  few  blackened  chim 
neys.  The  town  was  re 
built,  but  when  it  was 
burned  a  second  time, 
toward  the  close  of  the 
century,  it  was  aban 
doned. 

Williamsburg,  seven 
miles  distant,  became  the 
seat  of  government  in 
1 699,  and  the  authorities 
began  laying  out  the 
RUINS  OF  OLD  CHUBCH,  JAMESTOWN  streets  to  make  W  and 


Virginia 


147 


SMITHFIELD  CHURCH,  ERECTED  IN  1632 


M,  the  initials  of  the 
English  king  and 
queen,  but  this  plan 
was  soon  abandoned 
as  inconvenient.  The 
place  never  attained 
a  population  of  2000, 
yet  in  the  events  that 
preceded  the  Revolu 
tion  it  was  not  only 
the  capital  of  Vir 
ginia,  but  in  many  ways  the  capital  of  the  entire  group  of 
colonies.  On  a  memorable  day  in  1765  Patrick  Henry 
offered  here  his  famous  resolutions  against  the  Stamp  Act. 
Virginia  was  a  leader  by  reason  of  the  character  of  its 
public  men,  and  because  it  was  the  largest  and  most  popu 
lous  of  the  thirteen  colonies.  The  state  is  indebted  for  its 
name  to  Elizabeth,  the  virgin  queen,  who  originally  gave 
this  name  to  all  the  English  possessions  in  America.  It  is 
called  the  "Old  Dominion"  because  Charles  II  recognized 
Virginia  as  an  independent  member  of  his  empire.  The 
governor  of  the  colony  had  proclaimed  him  King  of  Eng 
land,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Virginia  before  he  actually  be 
came  king  in  his  own  land,  and  when  this  caused  trouble 
there,  had  invited  him  to  come  and  be  King  of  Virginia. 
Of  special  interest  in  Williamsburg  are  the  Court  House, 
built  in  1769,  and  used  continuously  since  then,  the  Poor 
Debtors'  Prison,  the  Bruton  Parish  Church,  which  dates  in 
its  present  form  from  1710,  and  William  and  Mary  College, 
established  in  1693.  The  church  used  to  have  among  its 
regular  attendants  the  governor  and  his  staff  and  the  members 
of  the  House  of  Burgesses.  Its  original  colonial  char 
acteristics  have  been  recently  restored.  The  College,  though 
its  students  had  never  exceeded  one  hundred  and  fifty  until 


148  What  to  See  in  America 

latterly,  numbers  among  its  graduates  a  remarkable  list  of 
famous  men,  including  three  presidents  of  the  United  States. 
Virginia  itself  is  known  as  the  "Mother  of  Presidents,"  for 
it  is  the  birthplace  of  four  of  the  first  five,  and  of  eight  of  the 
entire  twenty-seven. 

Twelve  miles  east  of  Williamsburg  is  picturesque  old 
Yorktown,  near  the  mouth  of  the  York  River.  Here 
Cornwallis  was  besieged  for  two  months  and  then,  after  an 
eight-day  bombardment  at  close  quarters,  surrendered  to 
George  Washington  October  19, 1781.  The  town's  venerable 
houses,  great  gnarled  trees,  and  grass-grown  earthworks, 
and  the  wild  little  glens  that  gash  the  bluff  on  which  it 
stands  are  all  delightful. 

Near  the  mouth  of  the  James  River  is  Norfolk,  one  of  the 
most  thriving  Atlantic  seaports  of  the  South.  Round  about 
it  is  a  wonderful  truck-producing  region.  Just  across  the 
Elizabeth  River  is  Portsmouth,  the  location  of  one  of  the 
government's  large  navy  yards.  Virginia  Beach,  directly 
east,  on  the  shore  of  the  ocean,  offers  surf  bathing  and  good 
fishing.  Just  above  Norfolk  the  Elizabeth  River  joins 
Hampton  Roads,  one  of  the  finest  harbors  in  the  world, 
where  there  is  anchorage  for  the  combined  fleets  of  the 
nations.  One  calm  Saturday  afternoon  in  March,  1862, 
the  Confederate  ironclad,  Merrimac,  attacked  several  of  the 
finest  Union  vessels  that  lay  in  the  roadstead,  destroyed  two, 
and  would  have  completed  its  triumph  the  next  day  but  for 
the  timely  arrival  that  night  from  New  York  of  the  Monitor, 
the  first  turret  vessel  ever  used.  The  Merrimac ,  aptly 
described  as  "a  huge  half-submerged  crocodile,"  was  van 
quished  in  the  most  famous  of  all  naval  duels  by  the  Monitor, 
which  was  likened  to  "a  cheese  box  on  a  raft,  "and  naval  war 
fare  was  revolutionized.  The  day  of  the  wooden  warship 
was  gone. 

Old  Point  Comfort,  at  the  entrance  to  Hampton  Roads, 


Virginia 


149 


THE  WHITE  HOUSE 


with  Chesapeake  Bay 
opening  northward, 
has  long  been  a  favor 
ite  seaside  resort.  Its 
name  was  conferred 
by  Capt.  John  Smith 
in  gratitude  for  the 
shelter  it  afforded  his 
vessel  from  the  open 
sea.  Here  is  Fortress 
Monroe,  the  most 

elaborate  fortification  in  the  United  States.  The  stone 
ramparts  are  about  two  miles  in  circumference  and  inclose 
an  eighty-acre  area  which  resembles  a  beautiful  park.  Out 
side  of  the  rampart  is  a  broad  moat.  Jefferson  Davis  was 
confined  in  the  fortress  for  a  year  and  a  half  after  the  Civil 
War,  and  then  was  released  without  a  trial.  Four  miles 
distant  is  located  the  well-known  Hampton  Normal  and 
Agricultural  Institute  for  Negroes  and  Indians,  and  not  far 
beyond  that  is  Newport  News  through  which  passes  an 
enormous  tonnage  for  or  from  the  seagoing  ships.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  James  River,  about  a  dozen  miles  to  the 

^^^^^^^^^  west,  is  one  of  the 
I  oldest  churches 
in  Virginia,  at 
Smithfield.  It 
was  erected  in 
1632,  but  for  half 
a  century  after 
1836  the  building 
was  abandoned, 
and  little  sur 
vived  except  the 

OLD  HOMES  IN  FREDERICKSBURG  brick  Walls.   Then 


150  What  to  See  in  America 

it  was  restored,  and  in  doing  so  about  2000  bricks  that 
had  been  in  the  old  church  at  Jamestown  were  used.  Some 
twenty  miles  south  of  Smithfield  is  Suffolk,  the  world's 
greatest  peanut  market.  This  preeminence  has  been 
achieved  mainly  because  of  its  location  and  the  fact  that  six 
railroads  entering  Suffolk  traverse  the  largest  and  most  pro 
ductive  section  of  the  great  peanut  belt,  which  embraces 
more  than  thirty  counties  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 
The  Great  Dismal  Swamp  can  be  easily  visited  from  Suffolk. 
It  is  about  forty  miles  long  and  nearly  as  wide,  is  inter 
sected  by  canals,  and  yields  a  large  quantity  of  cedar,  cy 
press,  and  other  timber.  A  man  can  be  hired  at  Suffolk  to 
paddle  the  tourist  in  a  canoe  ten  miles  into  the  Swamp  as 
far  as  Lake  Drummond,  and  back  by  the  Jericho  Run  Canal. 
Richmond,  the  largest  place  in  the  state,  is  at  the  head  of 
navigation  on  the  James  River,  where  the  stream  makes  its 
way  in  little  cascades  amid  a  maze  of  diminutive  islands. 
It  was  founded  in  1733  on  land  that  had  belonged  to  the 
celebrated  chief,  Po  what  an.  It  had  only  a  few  hundred 
inhabitants  when  it  was  made  the  capital  of  the  state,  in 
1780.  Richmond  became  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
seceding  states  in  1861,  and  during  the  Civil  War  its  capture 
was  the  chief  object  of  the  Union  troops.  It  was  defended 
with  great  obstinacy,  and  when  the  Confederates  evacuated 
the  city,  April  2,  1865,  they  set  fires  in  the  business  section, 
and  a  large  part  of  the  place  was  destroyed.  About  one 
third  of  the  population  are  negroes,  who  are  mostly  employed 
in  the  tobacco  factories,  where  they  amuse  themselves  as 
they  work  in  singing  the  quaint  old  plantation  melodies. 
The  most  ancient  building  in  the  city  is  the  "Old 
Stone  House"  on  Main  Street,  erected  in  1737.  It  is  now  a 
museum  of  relics  and  curiosities.  A  chief  attraction  of 
Richmond  is  Capitol  Square,  with  its  noble  trees  and  emerald 
lawn  spreading  over  an  area  of  twelve  acres  around  the 


Virginia 


151 


State  House.  The  building  was  finished  in  1789.  Here  the 
Congress  of  the  Confederacy  met  in  1862  and  continued  in 
session  until  April,  1865,  when  it  adjourned  never  to  meet 
again.  In  the  rotunda  of  the  building  is  the  most  valuable 
piece  of  marble  in  America  —  Houdon's  statue  of  Washing 
ton,  modeled  from  life,  and  said  to  be  the  most  accurate 
representation  of  Washington  in  existence.  The  Capitol 
grounds  contain  Crawford's  colossal  equestrian  statue  of 
Washington,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  bronzes  in  the  world. 

At  the  corner  of  Broad 
and  24th  streets  is  old 
St.  John's  Church,  the 
meeting  place  of  the 
Virginia  Convention  of 
1775.  The  pew  is  pointed 
out  in  which  Patrick 
Henry  made  his  immor 
tal  "Give  me  liberty  or 
death"  speech.  The  fa 
mous  orator  was  born  in 
1736  at  Studley,  20  miles 
northeast  of  Richmond.  On  Broad  Street  is  the  Monu 
mental  Church  erected  on  the  site  of  a  theater  destroyed  by 
fire  one  December  evening  in  1811.  The  governor  of  the 
state  and  seventy-one  other  persons  perished  in  the  flames. 
In  St.  Paul's  Church,  on  the  west  side  of  Capitol  Square, 
Jefferson  Davis  was  seated  when  a  dispatch  from  Gen.  Lee 
was  delivered  to  him  announcing  that  Richmond  must  be 
evacuated.  At  the  corner  of  12th  and  Clay  streets  is  the 
"White  House  of  the  Confederacy"  occupied  for  three 
years  by  Mr.  Davis,  and  now  a  museum  of  Confederate 
relics.  The  plain  brick  building  occupied  by  Gen.  Lee  is 
also  preserved.  A  favorite  drive  is  to  Hollywood  Cemetery, 
which  nature  and  art  have  united  to  beautify.  Here  sleep 


ARLINGTON  HOUSE,  THE  HOME  OF  GEN. 
LEE 


152 


What  to  See  in  America 


many  of  Virginia's  famous  sons,  including  Monroe  and 
Tyler,  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  and  Jefferson  Davis, 
president  of  the  Confederacy.  A  pyramidal  monument  of 
granite  overgrown  with  vines  commemorates  16,000  Con 
federate  soldiers  buried  there.  Battles  were  fought  in  all 
the  region  round,  and  the  fortified  lines  that  protected  the 
city  are  visible  in  various  places.  Among  the  more  important 
battles  were  Seven  Pines,  Cold  Harbor,  and  Malvern  Hill. 
Warwick  Park,  a  popular  resort  just  below  Richmond  on 
the  James  River,  is  the  site  of  Powhatan's  dwelling  where 
Pocahontas,  then  twelve  years  old,  saved  the  life  of  Captain 

John  Smith.  Farther 
down  the  river,  fourteen 
and  one  half  miles  from 
Richmond,  is  Varina,  the 
home  of  Pocahontas  and 
her  husband,  John  Rolfe. 
Petersburg,  thirty  miles 
south  of  Richmond,  was 
the  center  of  the  final 
operations  of  the  Civil 


War,  and  thirteen  pitched 
battles  were  fought  in  the 
neighborhood.  One  of 
the  best-known  engage 
ments  was  that  of  the 
Old  Crater,  east  of  the 
city.  At  Appomattox 
Court  House,  about  eighty 
miles  west  of  Richmond, 
the  war  ended  April  9, 
1865,  in  the  surrender  of  Gen.  Lee  to  Gen.  Grant.  The 
quaint  old  Southern  city  of  Fredericksburg,  halfway  be 
tween  Richmond  and  Washington,  is  another  center  of  Civil 


CHRIST  CHURCH,  ALEXANDRIA 


Virginia 


153 


MT.  VERNON 


War  interest.  It  was  the  scene  of  a  fiercely  contested  battle 
in  1862,  and  the  next  year  the  Battle  of  Chancellorsville 
was  fought  eleven  miles  to  the  west,  and  the  year  after  that 
the  Battle  of  the 
Wilderness  oc 
curred  a  few  miles 
farther  away  in 
that  direction. 
Within  a  mile  of 
Chancellorsville 
Stonewall  Jack 
son  was  fatally 
wounded  by  his 
own  men  during 
the  battle,  and  a  monument  in  the  lonely  woodland  marks 
the  spot.  Washington  spent  his  boyhood  near  Fredericks- 
burg,  where  his  father  was  agent  for  some  iron  works.  The 
family  dwelling  was  a  four-room  house  with  outside  chim 
neys,  just  below  the  town  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rappa- 
hannock.  There  his  mother  died  in  1789. 

Robert  E.  Lee  was  born  in  1807  at  Stratford  about  thirty 
miles  up  the  Potomac  from  Chesapeake  Bay,  but  when  the 
Civil  WTar  began  he  was  living  on  a  Virginia  height  that 
overlooked  the  Potomac  and  Washington.  His  dwelling, 
with  its  columned  portico,  was  known  as  Arlington  House. 
It  was  built  in  1802  by  Lee's  father-in-law,  who  was  a 
grandson  of  Martha  Washington.  Lee  went  to  Richmond 
to  take  command  of  the  Virginia  troops,  and  the  house  and 
estate  of  1000  acres  were  confiscated.  The  grounds  were 
converted  into  a  Federal  camp,  a  hospital  was  established 
there,  and  in  1867  the  property  became  a  national  ceme 
tery.  On  the  slopes  are  long  serried  lines  of  tombstones  by 
thousands.  One  massive  granite  memorial  covers  the 
remains  of  2000  unknown  dead.  Among  the  more  famous 


154 


What  to  See  in  America 


men  of  the  army  and 
navy  buried  here  are 
General  Sheridan  and 
Admiral  Porter. 

Ten  miles  south  of 
Washington  is  Alexan 
dria,  which  once  aspired 
to  be  the  nation's  capital. 
One  should  visit  the 
wharves  and  the  market 
place,  the  Marshall 
I  House,  where  Col.  Ells- 
1  worth,  the  first  man  to 
die  in  the  Civil  War, 
was  killed,  and  go  into 
Christ  Church  where 
Washington  used  to  wor 
ship. 

Six  miles  farther  south 
is  Mt.  Vernon.  It  is  easily  and  quickly  accessible  from 
Washington  by  trolley,  but  a  pleasanter  way  to  reach  it  is 
by  boat.  The  serene  old  mansion  standing  on  an  eminence 
that  commands  a  beautiful  view  of  the  Potomac  was  built 
in  1743  by  Washington's  half-brother  Lawrence,  who  named 
it  in  honor  of  Admiral  Vernon  under  whom  he  had  served. 
Lawrence  died,  and  Washington  came  here  to  live  and  carry 
on  the  2000-acre  farm  soon  after  his  marriage  in  1759. 
Here  he  died  forty  years  later,  and  his  remains  repose  in  a 
tomb  in  a  quiet  nook  of  the  grounds. 

In  July,  1801,  was  fought  the  Battle  of  Bull  Run  thirty 
miles  west  of  Washington.  There  the  Southern  General 
Jackson  earned  the  name  of  Stonewall.  On  the  night  after 
the  battle  the  Union  troops  retreated  in  a  panic  to  Washing 
ton,  and  the  result  of  this  first  important  battle  of  the  war 


THE  SHENANDOAH  RIVER 


Virginia 


155 


encouraged  the  South  to  believe  that  its  cause  would  quickly 
triumph. 

In  the  northwestern  part  of  the  state,  between  the  Blue 
Ridge  and  Alleghany  Mountains,  is  the  Shenandoah  Valley, 
the  settlement  of  which  was  begun  about  1730  by  the  Scotch- 
Irish.  One  of  the  oldest  of  their  churches  is  the  Tuscarora 
Meeting-house  which  still  stands  near  Martinsburg.  A  great 
deal  of  fighting  was  done  in  the  Valley  during  the  Civil  War, 
and  Winchester  was  raided  by  the  opposing  forces  many 
times.  "Sheridan's  Ride,"  which  narrowly  saved  his  army 
and  turned  defeat  into  victory,  was  from  Winchester  south 
along  the  Valley  Pike  to  Cedar  Creek.  About  forty  miles 
beyond  Winchester  in  this  direction  are  the  Caverns  of 
Luray,  discovered  in 
1878,  and  justly  ranked 
among  the  most  wonder 
ful  natural  phenomena 
of  America.  They  are 
unequaled  for  their  pro 
fuse  decorations  of  sta 
lactites  and  stalagmites. 
Five  miles  to  the  east  is 
Stony  Man,  one  of  the 
highest  summits  of  the 
Blue  Ridge.  A  trip  to 
its  top  makes  a  pleasant 
one-day  horseback  ex 
cursion,  and  the  view 
from  its  summit  is  ample 
reward.  The  scenery  of 
the  valley,  as  one  travels 
south,  is  increasingly  pic 
turesque.  Fourteen  miles 

north    of    Basic    City    is  NATURAL  BRIDGE 


156 


What  to  See  in  America 


Weyer's  Cave,  better  known  as  the  Grottoes  of  the  Shenan- 
doah.  It  is  notable  both  for  its  size  and  its  subterranean 
wonders.  At  Staunton,  in  this  vicinity,  President  Wilson 
was  born  in  1856.  Farther  south  is  Lexington,  where  are 

buried  Robert  E.  Lee  and 
Stonewall  Jackson. 

Seven  miles  from  where 
the  James  River  breaks 
through  the  Blue  Ridge, 
by  a  magnificent  gorge  at 
Balcony  Falls,  is  the  fa 
mous  Natural  Bridge. 
Its  arch  is  two  hundred 
and  fifteen  ieet  high, 
ninety  feet  wide,  and  has 
a  span  of  one  hundred 
feet.  The  crown  of  the 
arch  is  forty  feet  thick, 
and  over  it  passes  a  public 
road.  Down  below  is  a 
little  stream.  Back  among 
the  mountains  to  the 
northwest  is  Hot  Springs, 
which  was  a  popular  resort  even  as  long  ago  as  1838,  when 
the  only  means  of  travel  thither  was  by  saddle  horse  and 
stage  coach.  It  is  2500  feet  above  the  sea  level.  Not  far 
from  here  are  three  tributaries  of  the  James,  called  Bull 
Pasture,  Cow  Pasture,  and  Calf  Pasture  rivers.  Also  near  at 
hand  is  the  old  Windy  Cove  Church,  built  in  1749.  At 
that  time  hostile  Indians  were  so  numerous  that  sentinels 
were  kept  on  duty  at  the  church  during  service,  and  guns 
were  stacked  inside.  Down  on  the  southwestern  border 
of  the  state  in  Grayson  County  is  Mt.  Rogers,  Virginia's 
loftiest  height,  with  an  altitude  of  5719  feet. 


FALLING  SPRINGS,  NEAR  COVINGTON 


Virginia 


157 


About  seventy-five  miles  northwest  of  Richmond  Thomas 
Jefferson  was  born  in  1743,  a  little  east  of  Charlottesville,  at 
Shadwell.  His  father's  estate  included  a  hill  with  steep 
craggy  sides,  three  miles  west  of  Charlottesville,  and  there 
he  built  in  later  life  what  was  one  of  the  finest  residences  in 
the  South,  surrounded  by  beautiful  lawns,  groves,  and 
gardens.  He  called  the  place  Monticello,  an  Italian  name 
that  means  Little  Mountain.  To  it  he  retired  from  the 
presidency  in  1809,  and  the  place  at  once  became  the  Mecca 
for  a  host  of  visitors  and  admirers.  Friends,  kindred,  and 
the  public  generally  came,  and  some  arrived  in  families, 
bringing  babies,  nurses,  drivers,  and  horses,  perhaps  to 
spend  days  or  weeks  at  a  time.  Crowds  would  stand  about 
the  house  for  hours,  watching  to  see  him  come  forth,  until  in 
desperation  he  would 
fly  to  his  farm,  Poplar 
Forest,  in  Bedford 
County ;  and  his  com 
ment,  that  "Political 
honors  are  but  splen 
did  torments,"  ex 
pressed  his  feeling. 
He  died  at  Monti- 
cello,  July  4,  1826, 
while  the  nation  was 
celebrating  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  which  he  had  written,  and  on  the  same  day 
that  his  predecessor  as  President,  John  Adams,  died  in 
New  England.  His  grave  is  beside  the  road  leading  to  the 
house. 

The  people  of  Virginia  are  nicknamed  "Beadles,"  a  title 
inherited  from  colonial  days  through  the  introduction  then 
of  the  English  beadles,  who  were  minor  court  and  parish 
officials. 


MONTICELLO,  THE  HOME  OF  THOMAS  JEFFER 
SON 


THE  SOUTH  BRANCH  OF  THE  POTOMAC 


XV 

West  Virginia 

Most  of  the  boundaries  of  the  state  are  formed  by  rivers  or 
mountain  ridges,  and  as  a  consequence  its  outlines  are  very 
irregular.  If  you  will  look  at  the  map  you  will  see  why  it  is 
called  the  "Panhandle  State."  The  people  have  been 
nicknamed  "Panhandlers."  It  was  originally  a  part  of 
Virginia.  About  1750  an  attempt  was  made  to  have  the 
West  Virginia  region  established  as  a  colony  with  the  name 
Vandalia.  There  was  a  similar  effort  during  the  Revolution 
to  create  a  state  here  beyond  the  Alleghanies  to  be  called 
Westsylvania.  But  no  change  was  made  until  the  outbreak 
of  the  Rebellion.  Then  Virginia  seceded  and  this  western 
portion  prepared  to  organize  a  new  state  to  be  called  Kana- 
wha.  The  plan  succeeded  except  in  the  matter  of  the  name, 
and  the  state  government  was  formally  inaugurated  at 
Wheeling  in  June,  1863.  Seven  years  later  Charleston,  down 

158 


West  Virginia       .  159 

in  the  central  part  of  the  state,  was  made  the  capital,  but 
in  1875  the  seat  of  government  was  shifted  back  to  Wheeling 
in  that  extreme  northern  out  jutting  streak  of  territory  be 
tween  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania.  One  more  shift  made 
Charleston  again  the  capital  in  1885. 

The  earliest  settlement  in  West  Virginia  was  Shepherds- 
town  on  the  Potomac,  founded  by  Germans  from  Pennsyl 
vania.  Other  villages  were  soon  established,  but  were  mostly 
destroyed  during  the  French  and  Indian  War.  In  1774  a 
body  of  militia  dealt  the  Shawnee  chieftain,  Cornstalk,  a 
crushing  blow  at  Point  Pleasant  in  the  western  part  of  the 
state,  where  the  Kanawha  River  joins  the  Ohio. 

The  most  famous  place  in  West  Virginia  is  Harpers  Ferry, 
and  it  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  of  American  villages. 
The  surrounding  scenery  is  beautiful  and  impressive  — 
steep  wooded  mountains,  cliffs,  and  tangled  hills,  and  the 
Shenandoah  and  Potomac  rivers  uniting  in  the  valley  depths. 
In  the  angle  between  the  streams  the  town  is  built  tier  on 
tier  along  the  abrupt  and  lofty  slopes.  Most  of  the  struc 
tures  are  of  brick  or  stone,  and  they  haVe  immense  chimneys, 
and  quaint  piazzas  and  porches.  To  this  vicinity  John 
Brown  came  in  1859  with  several  companions  and  rented  a 
farm  five  miles  distant  on  the  Maryland  side  of  the  Potomac. 
On  a  Sunday  night  in  October  he  and  his  band,  twenty-three 
in  all,  five  of  whom  were  negroes,  took  possession  of  the 
bridges  across  the  rivers  and  captured  the  United  States 
armory  and  arsenal  located  in  the  town.  But  the  next  morn 
ing  the  townspeople  got  out  their  guns,  and  other  armed 
men  flocked  in  from  the  country  around.  There  was  firing 
back  and  forth  all  day,  and  Brown's  situation  became  so 
desperate  that  the  invaders  took  refuge  in  a  little  fire  engine 
house  near  the  railway.  That  evening  eighty  marines  com 
manded  by  Col.  Robert  E.  Lee  reached  Harpers  Ferry, 
and  at  dawn  on  the  morrow  captured  the  stronghold.  One 


160 


What  to  See  in  America 


A  HARPERS  FERRY  HIGHWAY 


marine  was  killed,  five  of  the 
townspeople  lost  their  lives, 
and  ten  of  the  raiders  were 
killed.  Brown  and  such  of 
his  fellows  as  were  captured 
were  imprisoned  and  tried  at 
Charlestown,  ten  miles  to  the 
southwest,  and  there  he  and 
six  others  were  hung.  The 
jail  and  adjacent  courthouse 
still  stand,  and  it  is  a  curious 
fact  that  when  snow  falls  it 
quickly  melts  in  a  path  which 
leads  diagonally  across  the 
street  from  one  to  the  other. 
There  will  be  snow  over  all 
the  rest  of  the  street,  but  not 
on  the  path  John  Brown  trod 

in  going  to  and  from  the  courthouse.  You  might  think  that 

this  was  miraculous  testimony  that  John  Brown  was  a  martyr 

saint,   but   another  explanation   is  that  the  courthouse  is 

heated  from  the  jail,  and  the  hot  pipes  run  under  the  street 

paving.     The  armory  and  arsenal  at  Harpers  Ferry  were 

destroyed  during  the 

Civil  War  and  have 

not  been   rebuilt. 

John  Brown's  Fort, 

as  the  brick   engine 

house  was  called  after 

the  foray,  has  been 

removed  to  a  small 

park  on  the  Shenan- 

doah,    about   four 

miles  from  the  town.  TABLE  ROCK  NEAR  WHEELING 


West  Virginia 


161 


Wheeling,  the  state's  largest  city,  is  an  important  trading 
and  manufacturing  center.  On  its  borders,  at  the  crest  of 
Fulton  Hill,  is  what  is  known  as  McCulloch's  Leap. 
McCulloch,  a  celebrated  Indian  fighter,  escaped  pursuing 
savages  here  in  1777  by  riding  on  his  horse  down  the  steep 
three-hundred-foot  declivity  and  crossing  Wheeling  Creek. 
It  was  a  scramble,  rather  than  a  leap. 

The  state  is  notable  for  its  great  resources  in  coal,  oil, 
and  gas,  and  it  is  a  land  of  wonderful  mountains  and  magnifi 
cent  forests.     Its  loftiest  height  is  Spruce  Knob  in  Pendleton 
County,  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  state,  with  j 
an  elevation  of  4860 
feet.    The  highland 
sections  have  won  re 
pute    for    their    pure 
and  healthful  air. 
There  are  a  number 
of    famous    mineral 
springs    among   the 
mountains.    White 

Sulphur  Springs  is  perhaps  the  most  noteworthy  of  these. 
Persons  were  treated  there  as  early  as  1778.  The  place 
is  environed  by  mountains  that  have  much  scenic  charm. 

About  a  dozen  miles  south  of  Wheeling,  near  Moundsville, 
is  Grave  Creek  Mound,  one  of  the  largest  relics  of  the  mound- 
builders.  Its  form  is  conical  with  a  height  of  seventy  feet, 
and  a  base  diameter  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  feet. 
Two  sepulchral  chambers  were  found  in  it,  and  in  one  of 
these  was  a  skeleton  adorned  with  beads,  copper  bracelets, 
and  plates  of  mica.  In  the  other  chamber  were  two  skele 
tons,  one  adorned  with  beads,  and  a  second  unadorned. 

Stonewall  Jackson  was  born  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
state  at  Clarksburg  in  1824. 


PREHISTORIC  MOUND  AT  MOUNDSVILLE 


THE  LUMBEE  RIVER,  NEAR  PINEHURST 


XVI 

North  Carolina 

The  first  English  colony  in  America  was  established  in  the 
summer  of  1585  on  Roanoke  Island  off  the  coast  of  the  "Old 
North  State"  at  the  entrance  to  Albemarle  Sound.  A  year 
earlier,  Walter  Raleigh,  who  had  the  permission  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  to  search  for  any  lands  not  owned  by  Christian 
people  and  "the  same  to  occupy  and  enjoy  forever,"  sent 
two  ships  across  the  Atlantic  to  search  for  a  good  place  to 
plant  a  colony.  When  the  captains  returned,  after  visiting 
some  of  the  islands  and  portions  of  the  mainland  of  North 
Carolina,  they  reported  that  they  thought  the  soil  of  the 
region  was  "  the  most  plentiful,  sweet,  fruitful,  and  wholesome 
of  the  whole  world."  The  queen  showed  her  pleasure  by 
making  Raleigh  a  knight,  and  henceforth  he  was  called  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh.  His  colony  did  not  prosper.  After  a  year 
of  hardships  the  settlers  were  picked  up  and  carried  to 
England  by  Sir  Francis  Drake,  who  chanced  to  voyage  to 
their  vicinity.  They  had  been  gone  only  fourteen  days 
when  three  ships  sent  by  Raleigh  arrived.  These  left 
fifteen  men  to  hold  the  country  for  England,  and  returned. 

162 


North  Carolina 


163 


The  following  spring  Raleigh  sent  another  colony  consisting 
of  ninety-one  men,  seventeen  women,  and  nine  boys, 
with  John  White  for  governor.  Meanwhile  the  fifteen  men 
left  on  the  island  had  been  attacked  by  Indians,  who  killed 
several ;  and  the  rest  had  probably  been  drowned  in  a  boat 
wrhile  trying  to  escape.  But  this  did  not  deter  the  newcomers 
from  establishing  themselves  in  this  same  place  where  their 
predecessors  had  dwelt.  Not  long  after  they  landed,  Virginia 
Dare  was  born.  She  wras  the  first  English  child  born  on  the 
soil  of  the  United  States.  Friendly  Indians,  who  admired 
the  beauty  of  the  fair-skinned  baby,  called  her  the  White 
Fawn,  and  her  mother  the  White  Doe.  Governor  White 
soon  went  back  to  England  for  supplies,  and  was  detained 
for  three  years  by  war  with  Spain.  When  he  again  arrived 
at  Roanoke  Island  he  found  only  silence  and  decay,  and  no 
searching  there  or  on  the  adjacent  mainland  gave  any  clew 
as  to  what  had  become  of  the  colony.  But  many  years  after 
ward  children  were  observed  among  the  local  Indians  with 
light  hair  and  eyes,  and  it  was  believed  that  they  were 
descendants  of  the  Roanoke  settlers  who  had  been  adopted 
by  native  tribes. 

In  1629  King  Charles  I  established  as  a  province  all  the 
land  from  Albemarle 
Sound  to  the  St. 
Johns  River  and  di 
rected  that  it  be 
called  Carolina,  a 
name  derived  from 
the  Latin  form  of 
his  own  name.  For 
exactly  a  century 
afterward  there  was 
only  one  Carolina. 
Then  the  region  was  CAPE  HATTERAS  LIGHTH( 


164  What  to  See  in  America 

divided  into  North  and  South  colonies.  The  earliest  settle 
ments  destined  to  be  permanent  were  made  on  the  north 
eastern  borders,  beside  the  Chowan  and  Roanoke  rivers,  by 
Virginians  in  1653. 

The  lonely  and  dangerous  waters  off  the  North  Carolina 
coast  used  to  be  a  haunt  of  pirates,  one  of  the  most  active 
of  whom  was  Blackbeard.  On  his  swift-sailing  ship,  the 
Adventure,  he  was  the  terror  of  Southern  commerce.  He  had 
a  home  not  far  from  Bath,  a  little  way  inland  from  Pamlico 
Sound,  on  the  banks  of  a  river  of  the  same  name.  After 
some  of  his  wild  cruises  he  would  swagger  into  the  town,  and 
with  oaths  and  savage  threats  drive  all  the  citizens  from  the 
streets.  At  length  he  seemed  to  grow  weary  of  piracy, 
settled  down  on  shore,  and  married  his  thirteenth  wife. 
Pretty  soon,  however,  he  went  off  to  sea  again  with  a  rollick 
ing  crowd  of  cutthroats.  A  Virginia  schooner  sent  to  put  a 
stop  to  his  marauding  fell  in  with  him  in  1718  off  Ocracoke 
Inlet,  which  connects  the  Atlantic  with  Pamlico  Sound,  about 
thirty  miles  southwest  of  Cape  Hatteras.  The  pirates  were 
overcome,  and  Blackbeard  was  slain.  The  victors  cut  off 
his  head,  fastened  it  at  the  bow  of  their  craft,  and  threw  the 
body  into  the  sea.  Thereupon  the  head  began  to  call, 
"Come  on,  Robert !"  and  the  body  swam  three  times  around 
the  schooner.  The  vessel  sailed  home  in  triumph  with  the 
ghastly  pirate  head  at  its  bow,  and  later  the  skull  was  made 
into  a  silver-rimmed  bowl  and  kept  as  a  trophy  of  the  battle. 

North  Carolina  has  always  been  a  rural  state  —  one  of 
planters  and  farmers.  At  the  end  of  one  hundred  years  of 
settlement  there  were  only  a  half  dozen  villages,  none  of  which 
had  as  many  as  six  hundred  inhabitants.  Charlotte,  an 
important  cotton  manufacturing  town,  is  the  largest  place 
in  the  state.  Lord  Cornwallis  more  than  once  had  his  head 
quarters  there.  He  described  it  as  "a  hornets'  nest,"  of 
which  title  the  inhabitants  are  still  proud.  At  the  opening 


North  Carolina 


165 


of  the  Civil  War  there  were 

thirty-nine  small  cotton  mills 

in  the  state  that  employed  an 

average  of   forty-five  hands, 

while    a    half    century    later 

there    were   seven    times    as 

many  mills   each  employing 

three  times  as  many  hands. 

At     Salisbury,    forty     milch 

north  of  Charlotte,  was  one 

of     the     chief     Confederate 

prisons,  and  it  has  a  National 

Cemetery  which  contains  the 

graves  of   more   than  12,000 

soldiers  who  died  in  captivity 

there. 

At  Holmans  Ford,  a  little 

to  the  north  of  Salisbury,  is  a 

granite  shaft  fifteen  feet  high  in  the  form  of  an  Indian 

arrowhead,  erected  to  the  memory  of  Daniel  Boone.     Close 

by  is  a  log  cabin,  which  is  an  exact  duplicate  of  the  one  that 

formerly   stood   there,   and   which   was   Boone's   home   for 

nineteen  years  of  his  young  manhood.     On  the  banks  of  the 

Yadkin  River,  not  far  away,  is  Boone's  Cave,  to  which  the 

family  retreated  when 
closely  pressed  by 
savages. 

Raleigh,  the  "City  of 
Oaks,"  on  high  ground 
near  the  center  of  the 
state,  has  been  the  cap 
ital  since  1794.  In  the 
early  years  several  vil- 

THE  STATE  HOUSE,  RALEJGH  lagCS    Served   in   turn   as 


A  FIXE  WOODS  ROAD 


166 


What  to  See  in  America 


MOUNTAIN  HOME  NEAR  PISGAH  RIDGE 


the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  with  Newbern 
for  the  final  one  after 
1746.  Southwest  of 
Raleigh  is  the  im 
portant  health  and 
recreation  resort, 
Pinehurst.  From 
November,  when  the 
colors  of  autumn  are 
at  their  best,  until 
May,  when  the  gran 
deur  of  the  Southern  spring  has  reached  its  climax,  the 
region  is  particularly  charming.  Perhaps  the  most  exciting 
and  strenuous  of  the  pastimes  which  Pinehurst  has  to  offer 
is  fox-hunting.  Gray  foxes  abound,  and  they  lead  the  pack 
of  twenty  hounds,  close  followed  by  the  hunters,  in  a  merry 
chase,  which  almost  always  ends  in  securing  the  fox. 

Western  North  Carolina  is  the  "  Land  of  the  Sky."  Here 
are  the  Great  Smoky  Mountains  along  the  boundary,  and 
the  parallel  range  of  the  Blue  Ridge  about  twenty-five  miles 
to  the  east.  Sev 
eral  spurs  reach 
out  from  the  main 
chains  into  the 
region  between, 
and  one  of  these, 
the  Black  Moun 
tains,  contains 
nineteen  peaks 
over  6000  feet 
high.  The  variety 
of  scenery  is  end 
less.  Even  the  GRANDFATHER  MOUNTAIN 


North  Carolina  167 

highest  mountains  are  densely  wooded  to  their  tops.  In  this 
region  is  the  famous  health  resort  of  Asheville,  which  is 
visited  by  70,000  persons  annually.  Southerners  frequent 
it  for  its  comparative  coolness  in  summer,  and  Northerners 
for  its  mildness  in  the  cooler  part  of  the  year.  Mt.  Mitchell, 
the  highest  peak  in  the  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  rises  eighteen  miles  east  of  Asheville  to  a  height 
of  671 1  feet.  Its  name  is  derived  from  Prof.  Elisha  Mitchell, 
who  lost  his  life  by  a  fall  from  a  precipice  in  1857,  while 


THE  FRENCH  BROAD  RIVER  IN  WESTERN  NORTH  CAROLINA 

determining  the  height  of  the  peak.  He  is  buried  at  the 
summit.  Near  Asheville  is  the  famous  estate  of  Biltmore, 
with  its  130,000  acres  of  grounds  and  its  mansion  which  cost 
$4,000,000. 

About  thirty  miles  west  of  Charlotte  near  the  South  Caro 
lina  line  was  fought  the  famous  Battle  of  Kings  Mountain 
in  the  autumn  of  1780.  Major  Ferguson,  with  a  British 
force  of  1200,  was  raiding  the  back  country,  and  there 
gathered  to  oppose  him  a  motley  crowd  of  Indian  fighters 
and  hunters,  farmers  and  mountain  rangers,  wearing  sprigs  of 
hemlock  in  their  hats,  and  every  man  a  dead  shot  with  his 
gun.  When  the  Major  heard  of  the  approach  of  the  "dirty 
mongrels,"  as  he  called  them,  he  posted  his  army  on  an 
isolated  hill,  which  he  named  Kings  Mountain,  and  declared 


168 


What  to  See  in  America 


that  all  the  "rebels  out  of  hell"  could  not  drive  him  from  it. 
They  only  slightly  outnumbered  the  British,  yet  they  per- 


Scale  of  Mllee 

60        100        160        200       860 


sistently  pressed  up  the  hill  on  every  side.  At  length,  when 
four  hundred  and  fifty-six  of  the  defenders,  including  their 


North  Carolina  169 

commander,  lay  dead,  the  rest  surrendered.  Only  twenty- 
eight  Americans  were  slain.  After  the  battle,  the  victors 
hied  away  to  their  crude  civilization  beyond  the  Alleghanies. 
This  was  their  only  service  in  the  war,  but  it  turned  the  tide 
at  a  dark  moment  in  favor  of  America. 

The  people  of  the  state  are  called  "Tar-heels,"  a  sobriquet 
given  during  the  Civil  War  because  so  many  soldiers  came 
from  the  pineries  with  tar  on  their  footwear. 


PLANTATION  HOUSE  AND  LIVE  OAKS 

XVII 

South  Carolina 

The  earliest  permanent  settlement  in  the  "Palmetto  State" 
was  made  in  1670  on  the  banks  of  the  Ashley  River  at  Albe- 
marle  Point,  three  miles  from  the  present  city  of  Charleston ; 
but  of  the  town  which  grew  up  there  nothing  now  remains 
except  a  ditch  or  two,  and  the  name  Old  Town  Creek,  which 
is  that  of  a  little  stream  forming  one  of  the  town  boundaries. 
Most  of  the  settlers  shifted  their  homes  within  a  few  years 
and  established  themselves  where  Charleston  now  is.  At 
the  opening  of  the  Revolution,  Charleston  was  one  of  the 
three  leading  seaports  of  the  country.  In  front  of  the  city, 
on  Sullivans  Island,  the  Americans  erected  a  strong  breast 
work  of  palmetto  logs  and  sandbags.  The  British  fleet 
attacked  the  rude  fort  unsuccessfully  on  June  28,  1776.  In 
the  thick  of  the  fight  the  staff  that  held  aloft  the  American 
flag  was  broken  by  a  cannon  ball,  and  the  flag  fell  outside 

170 


South  Carolina 


171 


the  fort.  Sergt.  William  Jasper,  an  illiterate  youth  who 
could  not  even  read,  promptly  leaped  down  the  embrasure 
in  the  face  of  the  enemy's  fire,  caught  up  the  fallen  banner, 
and  planted  it  on  the  sandbags  of  the  bastion,  thus  winning 
for  himself  a  place  among  the  country's  heroes.  The  British 
failed  in  another  attack  on  Charleston  in  1779,  but  were 
successful  the  next  year  after  a  four-months'  siege. 

A  railroad,  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  miles  in  length, 
which  was  completed  in  1833  from  Charleston  to  Hamburg 
on  the  Savannah  River  opposite  Augusta,  Georgia,  was  at 
that  time  the  longest  in  the  world.  Regular  passenger 
service  was  begun  on  the  first  half  dozen  miles  out  of 
Charleston  on  January 
15,  1831.  Not  long 
afterward  the  negro 
fireman  on  the  locomo 
tive  fastened  the  safety 
valve  shut  because  he 
did  not  like  the  noise 
of  the  escaping  steam. 
As  a  result,  the  boiler 
exploded,  scalding  the 
engineer  severely  and 
injuring  the  fireman  so 
that  he  died  two  days 
later.  After  that  the 
locomotive  was  re 
garded  with  suspicion, 
and  for  a  long  time  a 
"barrier  car"  piled 
high  with  cotton  bales 
was  interposed  between 
the  engine  and  the  train 

to  protect  the  passengers.          ST.  MICHAEL'S  CHURCH,  CHARLESTON 


172 


What  to  See  in  America 


FORT  SUMTER 


Osceola,  the  cele 
brated  Seminole 
chief,  died  in  1838 
in  Fort  Moultrie  on 
Sullivans  Island 
after  a  few  weeks' 
imprisonment. 

When  the  Civil 
War  was  imminent, 
South  Carolina  was  the  first  state  to  secede.  Its  legislature 
passed  the  ordinance  of  secession  by  unanimous  vote  in 
Charleston  on  December  20,  1860.  When  April  came,  Fort 
Sumter  in  the  harbor  was  bombarded  and  forced  to  sur 
render.  For  most  of  the  remainder  of  the  war  the  city  was 
blockaded  and  shelled  by  a  Union  fleet. 

Since  the  war  the  greatest  event  in  the  history  of  Charleston 
is  the  destruction  of  half  of  it  by  an  earthquake  on  the 
night  of  August  31,  1886,  with  a  loss  of  $5,000,000.  As  a 
shipping  port  the  place  handles  large  quantities  of  cotton 
and  rice,  but  its  prosperity  depends  chiefly  on  the  trade  in 
phosphate,  large  deposits  of  which  underlie  the  region.  It 
has  been  called  "the  aristocratic  capital  of  the  United 
States."  Certainly  the  aspect  of  its  homes  conforms  to  that 
title.  The  eye  delights  in  beholding  the  great  cool-looking 
mansions  with  their  , 
broad  verandas,  and 
their  snug  little 
formal  gardens  and 
fine  trees,  and  the 
marvelous  profusion 
of  flowers  and  vines. 
Charleston  is  the 
largest  place  in  the 

State.  OLD  PLANTATION  CABINS 


South  Carolina 


173 


The  town's  most  interesting  historic  building  is  the 
Colonial  Exchange,  erected  in  1771.  WThen  Washington 
visited  Charleston  after  the  Revolution,  a  ball  and  reception 
in  his  honor  were  given  in  this  building.  St.  Philip's  Church, 
dating  from  1835,  has  a  steeple  nearly  two  hundred  feet  high, 
from  which  there  shines  a  beacon  light  at  night  to  guide 
mariners  at  sea.  The  finest 
piece  of  colonial  architecture  | 
in  the  South  is  St.  Michael's 
Church,  first  opened  for  serv 
ice  in  1761.  When  the  Brit 
ish  gained  possession  of  the 
town,  they  stabled  their  horses 
in  the  church.  It  has  a  very 
musical  chime  of  eight  bells. 
In  the  Civil  War  these  were 
sent  to  Columbia  for  safe 
keeping,  but  that  place  was 
looted  and  burned,  and  the 
bells  were  so  damaged  that 
they  were  shipped  to  England 
to  be  recast.  When  the  vessel 
that  brought  them  back  ar 
rived,  the  people  went  in  pro 
cession  to  receive  the  beloved  bells,  and  with  prayers  and 
thanksgiving  replaced  them  in  the  church  tower.  Their 
music,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  characteristic  of  all  the 
city's  sounds,  has  been  called  "the  voice  of  Charleston." 
The  city  takes  especial  pride  in  the  district  around  the 
Battery,  which  is  a  grassy  park  thickset  with  sturdy  oaks. 
The  good  folks  who  daily  promenade  this  park  little  think 
that  they  are  trampling  over  the  resting  place  of  fifty  pirates 
who  were  captured  in  1718  and  hanged  and  buried  on  what 
was  then  White  Point. 


A  COTTON  PICKER  AT  His  CABIN 
WELL 


174 


What  to  See  in  America 


Three  important  battles  were  fought  in  South  Carolina 
during  the  Revolution.  The  first  was  at  what  is  now  the 
favorite  winter  resort  of  Camden  thirty-three  miles  north 
east  of  Columbia,  in  August,  1780.  Three  thousand  patriot 
troops  under  the  incompetent  management  of  General 

Gates  suffered  the  most 
disastrous  defeat  ever  in 
flicted  on  an  American 
army.  Cornwallis,  the 
British  commander, 
though  he  had  only  two 
thousand  men,  swept  the 
opposing  army  out  of 
existence.  The  next  Jan 
uary  nine  hundred  Amer 
icans,  after  retreating 
before  a  somewhat  larger 
enemy  force  led  by  the 
brave  cavalry  com 
mander,  Tarleton,  made 
a  stand  on  a  grazing 
ground  known  as  the 
Cowpens  near  the  state 
line  northwest  of  Colum 
bia.  The  British  attacked 
vigorously  at  daybreak, 
but  were  very  cleverly  out-maneuvered  and  three  quarters 
of  them  surrendered.  In  September  the  Americans,  com 
manded  by  Gen.  Greene,  were  again  victorious  in  the  Battle 
of  Eutaw  Springs,  about  sixty  miles  southeast  of  Columbia. 
Charleston,  which  was  the  colonial  capital  of  South  Caro 
lina,  was  succeeded  by  Columbia  in  1790  for  the  sake  of  a 
more  central  situation.  The  latter  is  an  attractive  city  with 
abundant  water  power,  which  has  resulted  in  the  development 


BROSSTOWN  UPPER  FALLS 


South  Carolina  175 

of  a  considerable  manufacturing  industry.  Here  are  the 
largest  cotton  mills  in  the  South.  When  the  place  was  cap 
tured  by  the  Federals  in  February,  1865,  much  of  it  was 
burned,  including  the  State  House,  a  convent,  several 
churches,  and  a  vast  quantity  of  cotton.  The  Confederates 
and  Federals  each  accused  the  other  of  starting  the  fire,  and 
the  question  of  responsibility  for  it  has  never  been,  settled. 

About  fifty  miles  southwest  of  the  capital  is  Aiken,  the 
popular  winter  resort,  surrounded  by  vast  forests  of  fragrant 
pines  that  grow  in  a  soil  of  white  sand.  Among  the  amuse 
ments  offered  are  fox-hunting,  racing,  polo,  tennis,  cricket, 
and  golfing. 

Sassafras  Mountain,  in  the  Blue  Ridge  Range  on  the  North 
Carolina  boundary,  is  the  state's  loftiest  height,  with  an 
altitude  of  3548  feet.  The  people  are  nicknamed  "Weasels," 
a  term  more  especially  applied  to  the  natives  of  the  back 
woods. 


Two  SISTERS  FERRY,  SAVANNAH  RIVER 


XVIII 

Georgia 

The  first  settlement  in  Georgia  was  Savannah,  on  a  bluff  over 
looking  the  river  of  the  same  name,  eighteen  miles  from  the 
sea.  Its  founder  was  Gen.  Oglethorpe,  who  wanted  to  pro 
vide  an  asylum  for  the  poor  of  England  and  the  Protestants 
of  all  nations.  Thus  the  last  of  the  thirteen  colonies  came 
into  existence.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  King  George  II, 
who  granted  the  charter.  At  the  time  of  the  Revolution 
ary  War  the  British  captured  Savannah,  and  the  next  year 
the  Americans  were  defeated  in  a  determined  effort  to  retake 
it.  In  this  battle  the  gallant  Jasper,  whose  exploit  with  the 
flag  at  Fort  Moultrie  had  made  him  known  as  the  bravest 
of  the  brave,  was  killed  while  endeavoring  to  plant  an  American 
flag  on  a  redoubt  at  Spring  Hill,  now  the  site  of  the  Georgia 

176 


Georgia 


177 


Railway.  About  three  miles  from  the  city,  beside  the 
Augusta  road,  is  a  spring  that  bears  his  name.  There  he 
and  a  comrade  captured  eight  redcoats  and  released  a  con 
siderable  number  of  Americans  that  the  British  were  taking 
to  a  prison  camp. 

The  "Forest  City,"  as  Savannah  is  called,  is  one  of  the 
prettiest  places  in  the  South.  It  has  more  well-kept  parks 
than  any  other  city  in  the  world.  There  is  a  small  public 
square  at  nearly  every  corner,  and  one  of  the  wide  streets 
has  a  double  row  of  big  trees  running  right  down  the  middle 
with  grass  under  them ;  and  there,  on  the  green  lawn,  the 
little  children  can  be  seen  playing  even  in  midwinter. 
Originally  the  small  parks  were  used  as  market  places  and 
rallying  points  in  case  of  Indian  attack.  One  of  Savannah's 
popular  year-round  resorts  is  Tybee  Island,  and  another  is 
Thunderbolt,  famous  for  fish  and  oysters.  There  is  excellent 
quail-shooting  in  the  vicinity,  and  the  creeks  and  marshes 
are  populous  with  ducks  in  their  season. 

The  famous  Revolutionary  general,  Nathanael  Greene,  a 
native  of  Rhode  Island,  moved,  after  the  war,  to  Georgia, 
where,  in  recogni 
tion  of  his  serv 
ices,  he  was 
given  an  estate 
known  as  Mul 
berry  Grove  not 
far  up  the  river 
from  Savannah. 
After  the  gen 
eral's  death,  that 
shrewd  New  Eng- 
lander,  Eli  Whit 
ney,  was  a  tutor  ©  Detroit  pub.  co. 

in     the     Greene  WILMINGTON  RIVER  AT  BONAVENTURE 


178 


What  to  See  in  America 


home,  and  Mrs.  Greene  suggested  that  he  should  attempt 
to  contrive  a  machine  that  would  pick  the  seed  out  of  cot 
ton.  This  resulted  in  the  invention  of  the  ingenious  cotton 
gin  which  made  the  whole  South  opulent.  The  first  machine, 
completed  in  1793,  did  work  in  five  hours  which,  if  done  by 
hand,  would  take  one  man  two  years. 

The  first  steamship  ever  built  in  the  United  States  was 
owned  in  Savannah,  bore  the  name  of  the  city,  and  in  April, 
1819,  sailed  for  England,  where  it  arrived  twenty-two  days 
later. 

An  unusual  attraction  for  tourists,  five  miles  northwest, 
on  the  Savannah  River,  is  the  "Hermitage,"  a  plantation  of 
the  antebellum  days,  where  the  old  mansion  and  slave 
dwellings  may  be  inspected.  But  the  one  thing  that  every 
stranger  in  Savannah  goes  to  see  as  a  matter  of  course  is  the 
ancient  and  picturesque  estate  of  Bonaventure,  four  miles 
east  of  the  city.  For  a  long  time  this  has  been  used  as  a 
cemetery.  Here  are  solemn  avenues  of  gigantic  live  oaks 
whose  gnarled  branches  are  feathered  with  ferns  and  parasitic 
plants,  and  draped  with  pendant  swaying  masses  of  gray 
fairy-like  moss  that  are  often  four  or  five  feet  long.  The 
effect  is  singularly  weird  in  its  charm,  and  the  tombs,  urns, 
and  obelisks  gleaming  here  and  there  among  the  shadows 

add   to    the   impres- 
siveness. 

About  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty-five 
miles  up  the  river  is 
Augusta,  settled  only 
two  years  after  Sa 
vannah,  and  with 
something  the  same 
charm  in  the  breadth 
A  FARMHOUSE  and  beauty  of  its 


Georgia 


170 


streets.  Greene  Street 
is  especially  famous  be 
cause  of  its  four  rows 
of  great  trees  that  form 
two  ample  high-arched 
vernal  avenues,  and  on 
either  side  are  spacious 
flower  gardens  and 
pleasant  dwellings. 

Near  the  center  of  the 
state  is  Macon,  an  im 
portant  lumber  mart, 
with  a  noteworthy 
peach-growing  section 
roundabout.  Here  is 
the  Wesleyan  Female 
College,  which  claims  to 
be  the  oldest  woman's 
college  in  the  world. 
It  was  founded  in  1836.  Sixty  miles  southwest  is  Anderson- 
ville,  where  was  the  great  stockade  prison  in  which  so  many 
Union  prisoners  were  confined  during  the  Civil  War.  After 
Lee's  surrender  the  commandant  of  the  prison,  Captain 
Wirz,  a  German  by  birth,  was  found  guilty  of  conspiring 
"in  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  war  to  impair  the  health 
and  destroy  the  lives  of  about  45,000  Federal  prisoners  held 
at  Andersonville,"  and  was  hanged  at  the  Old  Capitol  Prison 
in  Washington.  He  was  the  only  Confederate  to  suffer  the 
death  penalty  for  his  part  in  the  war,  after  peace  had  been 
established. 

The  largest  place  in  Georgia,  and  also  one  of  the  largest 
in  the  South,  is  Atlanta,  the  "  Gate  City."  It  began  in  1836 
with  a  single  house.  This  was  built  on  an  Indian  trail  that 
led  to  the  Chattahoochee  River,  seven  miles  distant.  A 


TALLULAH  FALLS 


180 


What  to  See  in  America 


railroad  was  projected  to  the  spot,  which  was  called  Ter 
minus.  Somewhat  later  this  name  was  changed  to  Marthas- 
ville,  in  honor  of  a  daughter  of  the  governor  of  the  state. 
The  city's  present  name  was  adopted  in  1847.  During  the 
Civil  War  Atlanta  was  of  vital  importance  to  the  Confederacy 
as  a  center  of  supplies.  When  Sherman  captured  it  in 
September,  1864,  the  doom  of  the  Southern  cause  was 
sealed.  Two  months  later  he  burned  the  city  and  started 
on  his  famous  "  March  to  the  Sea,"  which  cut  the  Confederacy 

in  two.     Atlanta 
recovered  rapidly 

.^^^^_  after  the  war  and 

in  1868  was  made 
Ig^g  the  capital  of  the 
state.  Fifteen 
railway  lines  radi 
ate  from  it,  and 
it  is  notably  pro- 
gressive  and 
wealthy.  That 
lovable  Southern 
writer,  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  author  of  the  immortal  Uncle 
Remus  stories,  was  on  the  staff  of  the  Atlanta  Constitution 
for  much  of  his  life.  The  "Wren's  Nest,"  where  he  lived, 
at  214  Gordon  Street,  is  preserved  as  a  memorial.  It  is  a 
simple  homelike  house,  and  the  intimate  possessions  of  the 
author  lie  about  just  as  he  left  them.  Visitors  may  see, 
fastened  to  a  tree  by  the  gate,  the  old  letter  box  in  which 
a  wren  built  her  nest  and  so  gave  the  house  its  name. 

Sixteen  miles  east  of  Atlanta  is  a  great  smooth  granite 
hump  known  as  Stone  Mountain,  which  is  one  of  America's 
natural  wonders.  It  is  about  two  miles  long  and  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  there  is  not  a  fissure  in  it. 
The  mountain  is  to  be  made  a  Confederate  memorial,  and 


STONE  MOUNTAIN,  NEAR  ATLANTA 


Georgia 


181 


the  granite  is  to  be  adorned,  some  four  hundred  feet  up,  by  a 
column  of  troops  of  gigantic  proportions,  inarching  along  a 
roadway,  headed  by  Lee  and  Jackson  on  horseback,  the  whole 
to  be  carved  out  of  the  solid  rock.  The  equestrian  figures 
will  be  fifty  or  more  feet  tall,  and  the  procession  will  cover  a 
strip  of  perhaps  a  mile.  At  the  foot  of  the  great  rock  a 


COLLECTING  BARRELS  OF  RESIN  NEAR  OCILLA 

temple  is  to  be  hewn  out  of  the  mountain  and  used  as  a  place 
for  the  safe-keeping  of  Confederate  relics  and  archives. 

Georgia's  loftiest  mountain  is  Brasstown  Bald,  4768  feet 
high,  on  the  northeastern  border  of  the  state.  The  popular 
nickname  for  the  people  is  "Buzzards."  Poor  whites  known 
as  "  crackers"  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  have  given  Georgia 
the  title  of  the  "Cracker  State." 


TARPON  FISHING 


Photo  by  A.  W.  Dlmock. 


XIX 

Florida 

The  "Peninsula  State,"  or  the  "Everglade  State"  as  it  is 
also  called,  is  the  largest  commonwealth  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
with  the  exception  of  Georgia,  which  exceeds  it  in  size  to  a 
very  slight  degree.  Its  length  from  north  to  south  is  about 
four  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  its  northern  portion 
extends  nearly  four  hundred  miles  east  and  west.  No  other 
state  can  rival  its  coast  line  of  1146  miles.  Except  in  the 
beautiful  Tallahassee  region  the  land  is  level  or  only  gently 
rolling.  Louisiana  is  the  only  state  which  has  a  lower  average 
elevation.  The  highest  point  is  Mt.  Pleasant,  in  the  extreme 
northern  part,  near  the  southwest  corner  of  Georgia.  This 
mountain  attains  an  altitude  of  three  hundred  and  one  feet. 
Florida  is  a  region  of  abounding  waters,  and  its  rivers, 
creeks,  and  canals,  and  the  myriad  lakes  and  lagoons  are  so 
connected  that  a  canoe  or  light  draft  launch  can  traverse 

182 


Florida 


183 


them  in  almost  any  direction  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  peninsula.  Nor  can  you  follow  the  waterways 
far  without  encountering  some  kind  of  wild  creature  interest 
ing  for  its  own  sake  and  perhaps  legitimate  prey  for  rod  or 
gun. 

Florida  is  the  most  accessible  of  our  nation's  winter  play 
grounds  to  the  mass  of  the  people.  They  come  by  train 
and  by  steamer  and  in  automobiles  from  all  the  states  in  the 
Union.  The  highways  have  been  much  improved  in  recent 
years,  and  in  many  sections  the  motoring  conditions  are 
ideal.  Jacksonville  is  only  thirty  hours  from  New  York  by 
fast  trains.  Twelve  hours  more  take  one  to  the  southern 
tip  of  the  state.  Thus,  within  two  days  time,  one  may 
change  his  winter  environment  from  arctic  to  tropic  ;  from  ice 
and  snow  to  gentle  skies,  unchilled  waters,  ever-blooming 
flowers,  and  singing  birds  —  and  all  this  without  leaving  the 
mainland  of  the  United  States.  But  persons  who  come  to 
Florida  with  the  expectation  of  spending  their  midwinter 
in  white  linen  lying  on  beds  of  roses  under  blossoming  trees 
and  palms,  should  change  this  delusion  for  the  far  finer  and 
truer  notion  of  a  temperature  just  cool  enough  to  save  a 
man  from  degenerating  into  a  luxurious  vegetable  of  laziness, 
and  just  warm  enough  to  be  tranquilizing.  Even  if  it  chances 
that  you  have  to  endure  a  brisk  cold  spell,  you  can  find  cheer 
in  the  knowledge 
that  the  North  is 
having  a  bitter 
freeze.  All  the 
northern  half  of 
the  state  is  more 
or  less  subject  to 
frosty  nights,  and 
not  until  you  get 
beyond  the  main-  A  PINE  WOODS  LOG-TEAM 


184  What  to  See  in  America 

land  well  down  toward  Key  West  do  you  reach  the  frost's 
limits.  The  rainy  season  is  in  summer.  It  does  not  consist 
of  a  steady  downpour,  but  of  afternoon  thunder  showers 
which  come  up  in  the  heat  of  the  day.  Four  months  is  its 
usual  duration. 

Improvement  in  health  depends  on  taking  advantage  of 
what  the  Florida  winter  has  to  offer  —  which  is  unlimited 
opportunities  for  activity.  To  keep  indoors,  taking  no 
regular  exercise,  and  with  the  mind  and  body  unemployed, 
offers  little  chance  to  gain.  The  climate  cannot  be  too 
highly  praised  for  children.  The  winter  is  one  long  outdoor 
play  spell  for  them,  and  in  general  they  are  wholly  free  from 
coughs,  colds,  and  other  ailments. 

In  many  parts  of  Florida  are  interminable  stretches  of 
long-leaved  pine  forests.  The  rough-barked  tapering  trunks 

rise  straight  as  arrows, 
and  lift  their  plumed 
tops  sixty  to  one  hun 
dred  feet  in  the  air. 
The  needles  are  from 
twelve  to  eighteen 
inches  long.  The  trees 
are  particularly  valu 
able  both  for  timber 
and  for  turpentine. 

A  TRAPPER'S  HOME  -^,       .  -.  , 

rlorida    is    now   the 

center  of  turpentine  production  in  the  United  States.  Cattle 
and  horses  range  freely  in  the  woods  all  the  twelve  months 
of  the  year.  Their  owners  set  fires  every  wrinter  to  burn  the 
dry  grass  and  improve  the  pasturage.  The  long  low  lines  of 
flame  sweep  through  the  forests,  and  by  day  pitchy  smoke 
drifting  heavenward  shows  where  the  fire  has  got  into  thick 
young  growths  of  pines,  while  by  night  the  woodland  is 
weird  with  flickering  light. 


Florida 


185 


CITY  GATES,  ST.  AUGUSTINE 


Large  areas  are  cov 
ered  with  dense  growths 
of  the  saw  palmetto,  so 
named  because  of  its 
spiny-toothed  leaf 
stalks.  It  is  also  called 
palmetto  scrub,  which 
indicates  its  size  and 
nature.  Its  relative,  the 
cabbage  palmetto,  is  a 
beautiful  tree  with  a 
columnar  trunk,  that 
lifts  a  fan  crown  fifty 
or  sixty  feet  in  the 
air.  The  soft  enfolding 
leaves  that  surround 
the  central  bud  somewhat  resemble  a  cabbage  in  quality, 
whence  comes  the  tree's  name.  Palmettos  are  found  as 
far  north  as  Cape  Hatteras,  but  you  do  not  see  them  at  their 
best  until  you  get  down  to  Palatka  in  Florida.  There  they 
give  the  jungle  a  touch  of  stateliness  and  a  real  tropical 
picturesqueness. 

Florida  was  discovered  by  Ponce  de  Leon.  He  came  from 
Spain  to  seek  a  spring  whose  waters  were  said  to  confer 
immortal  youth  on  whoever  bathed  in  it.  On  March  27, 
1513,  his  three  vessels  arrived  within  sight  of  a  coast  which 
he  called  Terra  de  Pasciia  Florida,  Land  of  Easter  Flowers. 
The  name  is  supposed  to  refer  in  part  to  the  time  of  his  dis 
covery  and  in  part  to  the  abounding  spring  blossoms  that 
he  saw  and  scented.  He  landed  a  little  south  of  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Johns  River,  and  there  planted  a  cross,  threw  the 
royal  banner  to  the  breeze,  and  took  possession  of  the  country 
for  the  Spanish  crown.  For  a  month  and  a  half  he  engaged 
in  an  earnest  search  for  the  magic  fountain,  but  none  of 


186 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  springs  in  which  he 
bathed  served  his  pur 
pose,  and  he  finally  sailed 
away  without  having 
grown  any  younger. 
Ponce  de  Leon  visited 
Florida  again  in  1521, 
and  he  and  his  men  were 
assailed  by  savages,  prob 
ably  on  the  west  coast. 
Several  of  the  Spaniards 
were  slain,  and  their 
leader  was  hit  by  an  ar 
row  which  caused  his 
death  shortly  afterward 
in  Cuba. 

In  1539  the  conquest 
of  the  peninsula  was  at 
tempted  by  Fernando  de 
So  to,  who  had  taken  a 
leading  part  with  Pizarro 
in  conquering  Peru.  He  reached  Tampa  Bay  with  six 
hundred  and  twenty  men  in  June,  and  made  his  way  north, 
much  harassed  by  savages,  to  the  vicinity  of  Tallahassee, 
where  he  spent  the  winter.  In  the  spring,  the  Spaniards 
continued  their  journey,  and  after  many  strange  and  tragic 
adventures  reached  the  Mississippi  River. 

As  the  earliest  permanent  settlement  made  by  Europeans 
in  the  United  States,  St.  Augustine  will  always  have  excep 
tional  interest.  Capt.  Jean  Ribaut  with  a  small  French 
fleet  visited  the  coast  in  1562  and  named  the  harbor  of  St. 
Augustine  the  River  of  Dolphins  because  of  the  many 
porpoises  he  saw  there.  Two  years  later  another  French 
fleet  came  with  a  colony,  sailed  up  the  St.  Johns  a  few  miles, 


CATHEDRAL,  ST.  AUGUSTINE 


Florida 


187 


and  on  the  south  side  constructed  Fort  Caroline  on  what  is 
now  known  as  St.  Johns  Bluff.  When  the  Spanish  sovereign 
learned  of  this  colony,  he  promptly  dispatched  Pedro 
Menendez  in  eleven  vessels  with  2600  men  to  exterminate 
it.  Menendez  entered  an  inlet  on  the  coast  on  St.  Augus 
tine's  Day  in  1565  and  gave  the  saint's  name  to  a  fortified 
settlement  he  established  there.  Shortly  afterward  he  led 
an  expedition  against  Fort  Caroline  and  wiped  it  out. 
Meanwhile  a  French  fleet,  that  had  planned  to  attack  the 
Spaniards,  had  been  wrecked  farther  down  the  coast,  but 
most  of  those  on  board  got  to  the  shore  in  two  parties,  one 
of  about  two  hundred  and  the  other  three  hundred  and  fifty, 
and  began  to  make  their  way  toward  Fort  Caroline.  The 
smaller  party  arrived  at  Matanzas  Inlet,  twenty  miles  south 
of  St.  Augustine,  and  camped,  unable  to  cross.  Menendez 
came  to  their  aid  with  boats,  but  after  getting  them  to  the 
north  side  of  the  inlet  treacherously  slew  all  except  twelve. 
He  treated  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  larger  party  in 
the  same  way,  sparing  only  five.  The  rest  of  this  party 


ARCH  IN  FORT  MARION 


188 


What  to  See  in  America 


ONE  OF  ST.  AUGUSTINE'S  NARROW  STREETS 


would  not  trust 
them  selves  to  him 
and  retraced  their 
steps.  While  try 
ing  to  build  a 
vessel  from  frag 
ments  of  the 
wrecks,  a  Span 
ish  force  attacked 
them.  Some  were 
captured,  and  the 
rest  fled  to  the  Indian  towns.  The  name  of  the  inlet  where 
so  many  of  the  French  ended  their  lives  means  "the  place 
of  slaughter." 

In  1586  the  famous  English  sea  rover,  Sir  Francis  Drake, 
plundered  and  burned  St.  Augustine,  but  no  sooner  was  he 
gone  than  the  people,  who  had  fled  at  his  approach,  came 
back  and  began  rebuilding.  Two  Indian  villages  were 
established  close  by,  north  of  the  town,  and  one  evening  in 
1598  the  Indians  slew  a  priest  in  the  chapel  of  each  village. 
Later  they  went  to  the  several  other  missions  up  and  down 
the  coast  and  very  nearly  exterminated  the  missionaries. 

There    was    an-   -  ^_ 

other  Indian  out 
break  forty  years 
afterward,  and  a 
large  number  of 
native  prisoners 
were  brought  to 
St.  Augustine  and 
set  to  work  on 
the  fortifications. 
They  and  their 
descendants  Were  ON  THE  OCKLAWAHA  RIVER 


Florida 


189 


kept  at  this  task  for  sixty  years.     In  1665  John  Davis,  a 
famous  pirate,  sailed  into  the  harbor  with  seven  vessels, 
and  again  the  town  was  plundered  and  its  wooden  portion 
burned.     While  England  and  Spain  were  at  war  an  expe 
dition  of  whites  and  Indians  from    r 
South     Carolina     attacked     St. 
Augustine  in  1702  by  land  and 
by  sea.     The  stone  fort  of  San 
Marco   was  nearing  completion, 
and  though  the  town  was  easily 
captured,     the     fort     withstood 
the  enemy.     Gen.  Oglethorpe  of 
Georgia  bombarded   St.   Augus 
tine  in  1740  with  three  batteries 
located  on  Anastasia  Island,  and 
the  entire  population  of  the  town, 
about  three  thousand,  took  refuge 
in  the  fort,  which  again  proved 
impregnable. 

Florida  was  ceded  to  England, 
in  1762  and  ceded  back  in  1783. 
It  was  bought  by  the  United 
States  in  1821.  The  gray  and 
time-worn  old  fortress  of  San 
Marco  standing  beside  the  sea 
with  its  gloomy  portals  and  dark 
chambers  is  the  most  fascinating 
feature  of  St.  Augustine.  Its  first 
stone  was  laid  in  1592,  the  last 
in  1756,  and  it  covers  five  acres. 
It  is  a  complete  medieval  fortress,  and  is  one  of  the  best 
preserved  specimens  in  America  of  the  military  architecture 
of  its  time.  The  United  States  changed  its  name  to  Fort 
Marion  in  honor  of  a  patriot  general  of  the  Revolution. 


MOSQUITO  IXLET  LIGHTHOUSE 


190 


What  to  See  in  America 


It  is  built  of  coquina  rock  from  the  far  side  of  Anastasia 
Island  opposite  the  town.  In  the  center  of  the  old  section 
of  the  city  is  the  plaza,  an  attractive  stretch  of  greensward 
paths,  shrubs,  and  shade  trees.  While  Florida  was  a  part 
of  the  British  empire  at  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution, 
the  sentiment  of  St.  Augustine  was  intensely  loyal,  and  when 
the  news  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  received, 
Adams  and  Hancock  were  burned  in  effigy  on  the  plaza. 
At  the  north  end  of  the  plaza  is  the  post  office  —  doubtless 
the  oldest  one  in  the  United  States.  During  the  Spanish 
rule  it  was  the  governor's  palace.  Near  by  is  the  cathedral, 
finished  in  1797.  Its  Moorish  belfry  contains  a  chime  of 
four  bells,  the  smallest  of  which  bears  the  date  1682.  The 
buildings  in  the  older  parts  of  the  town  generally  date  back 
to  the  final  period  of  Spanish  occupancy.  Many  of  the 

dwellings  have  high- 
walled  gardens  full  of 
tropical  trees  and  flowers. 
St.  Georges  Street,  nine 
teen  feet  wide,  has  been 
the  main  business  thor 
oughfare  of  the  place  for 
three  centuries.  The  town 
is  on  a  peninsula  where  it 
only  had  to  guard  against 
land  attack  from  the 
north.  The  inner  line  of 
three  defenses  constructed 
there  contained  the  city 
gates,  which  have  sur 
vived  to  the  present  time. 
St.  Augustine  began  to 
develop  as  a  winter  re- 
BESIDE  THE  INDIAN  RIVER  sort  immediately  after  the 


Florida 


191 


THE  SHORE  OF  LAKE  WORTH  AT  PALM  BEACH 

Civil  War,  and  this  development  was  increasingly  rapid  as 
soon  as  it  was  connected  by  railroad  with  Jacksonville  in 
1870.  Anastasia  Island  is  easily  visited  by  means  of  a 
bridge  a  half  mile  long  across  the  water-channel.  The  island 
is  a  mile  or  two  broad  in  its  northerly  part  and  fifteen  miles 
long.  Sand  dunes,  partially  overgrown  with  scrub  pine  and 
palmetto,  are  the  predominant  feature,  and  so  white  is  the 
sand  and  so  fine  its  texture  that  it  resembles  the  drifting 
snows  of  the  remote  north.  On  the  far  side  of  the  island 
are  the  coquina  quarries.  Coquina  is  a  Spanish  word  which 
means  shellfish,  and  this  indicates  the  material  of  which  the 
rock  is  composed.  It  is  a  natural  concrete  of  tiny  shells 
with  here  and  there  a  larger  shell,  and  it  is  both  enduring 
and  attractive.  South  Beach  on  the  island  boasts  of  an 
alligator  farm,  where  you  can  see  the  alligators  in  all  stages 
of  growth,  from  those  just  out  of  the  shell  to  the  mature 
monsters. 

The  one  large  river  of  Florida  is  the  St.  Johns.  The 
Indians  called  it  the  Walaka,  which  means  chain  of  lakes. 
For  the  seventy-five  miles  between  Palatka  and  Jacksonville 


192  What  to  See  in  America 

it  is  never  less  than  one  mile  wide,  and  in  places  attains  a 
width  of  six  miles.  It  rises  in  Saw  Grass  Lake  on  the  borders 
of  the  Everglades,  not  a  dozen  miles  from  the  east  coast. 
The  water  of  the  upper  river  is  beautifully  pure,  but  below 
Sanford  the  river  is  a  dark  muddy  stream  which  makes  its 
way  through  an  interminable  succession  of  swamps. 
Jacksonville  is  the  Florida  metropolis.  It  is  the  largest 
orange  market  in  the  world.  During  the  Civil  War  it  was 
almost  wiped  out.  In  February,  1864,  a  Federal  army  which 
set  forth  from  the  town  in  pursuit  of  a  Confederate  force 
marched  into  a  trap,  fifty  miles  west,  near  Olustee,  and  was 
disastrously  defeated.  This  was  the  most  important 
Florida  battle  in  the  war.  The  principal  part  of  Jacksonville 
was  destroyed  in  May,  1901,  by  a  great  conflagration  that 
burned  nearly  3000  buildings,  entailing  a  property  loss  of 
$15,000,000.  There  are  a  number  of  bathing  resorts  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  within  reach  of  the  city,  and  among  its  sub 
urban  attractions  is  an  ostrich  farm. 

Fifteen  miles  up  the  river,  at  Mandarin,  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe  made  her  winter  home  from  1868  to  1884.  A  dozen 
miles  farther  south  is  Green  Cove  Springs.  The  spring 
that  has  made  the  place  famous  is  one  that  discharges  3000 
gallons  every  minute  from  its  green  mysterious  depths. 
South  of  Palatka  the  river  is  comparatively  narrow,  swift, 
and  crooked.  Palatka  is  the  starting  point  of  the  Ockla- 
waha  steamers.  They  go  south  twenty-five  miles,  then 
turn  west  and  enter  the  old  forests  of  the  "dark  crooked 
waters,"  which  is  what  the  name  of  the  stream  means.  The 
journey  ends  at  Silver  Springs,  one  hundred  and  ten  miles 
farther  on.  The  voyage  is  a  visit  to  fairyland.  As  the 
river  winds  along  it  almost  doubles  on  itself  in  places.  Often 
it  is  so  narrow  that  the  passengers  wonder  if  the  boat  will  not 
be  obliged  to  retreat.  You  can  seldom  see  more  than  a 
few  hundred  yards  ahead,  but  each  town  reveals  some  new 


Florida 


193 


MIDWINTER  AT  MIAMI 


Florida  195 

attraction.  More  than  nine  tenths  of  the  voyage  is  through 
a  dense  growth  of  partly  submerged  cypress,  and  only  at  a 
few  points  does  dry  land  approach  the  channel.  The  wild 
creatures  of  the  bordering  swamps  are  quite  fearless,  and 
you  will  see  herons,  eagles,  and  other  denizens  of  the  watery 
forest,  and  sometimes  a  timid  deer.  But  the  creature  which 
arouses  the  most  interest  is  the  alligator.  Several  are  sure 
to  be  seen  on  any  day  when  the  weather  is  warm,  and  half  a 
hundred  are  sighted  sometimes.  The  largest  are  fully 
twelve  feet  long.  The  latter  part  of  the  journey  is  made  at 
night.  A  fire  of  pine  knots  is  kindled  in  a  big  iron  box  on 
the  top  of  the  pilot  house,  and  the  light  from  the  resinous 
yellow  flames  advances  up  the  dark  sinuosities  of  the  stream 
in  a  manner  that  is  enchantingly  mysterious.  The  last  nine 
miles  of  the  voyage  are  on  Silver  Springs  Run,  which  has  its 
source  in  Silver  Springs  Lake.  These  springs  are  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world.  They  are  the  outlet  of  an  under 
ground  river  that  daily  discharges  300,000,000  gallons  of 
water  so  clear  that  the  bottom  is  distinctly  visible  eighty -five 
feet  down.  If  you  row  out  on  the  lake  you  marvel  that  such 
an  unseeable  water  can  support  anything  so  substantial  as 
the  boat  you  are  in.  Twenty  miles  west  of  the  neighboring 
city  of  Ocala  is  the  charming  Blue  Spring,  which  derives 
much  of  its  peculiar  beauty  from  the  wonderful  vegetation 
that  grows  in  endless  variety  of  color  and  form  along  the 
rocky  dikes  and  sandbars  of  the  bottom. 

The  most  famous  resort  section  of  Florida  is  the  east  coast. 
This  is  lined  almost  continuously  from  end  to  end  with  the 
cottages,  mansions,  and  palaces  of  people  from  outside  the 
state  who  make  their  homes  there  during  the  colder  months. 
Besides,  great  hotels  and  popular  resort  towns  are  numer 
ous.  A  peculiar  feature  of  the  coast  is  that  the  mainland 
nearly  everywhere  lies  back  of  salt  water  lagoons.  A  series 
of  narrow  islands  protect  it  from  the  ocean's  rude  waves, 


196 


What  to  See  in  America 


FLORIDA'S  SEA-GOING  RAILWAY 


and  afford  for 
small  craft  an  in 
side  route  of  shel 
tered  navigation. 
On  the  outer  side 
of  the  islands  are 
some  splendid 
stretches  of  beach. 
The  finest  extends 
forty  miles  from 
Matanzas  Inlet  to  Mosquito  Inlet.  No  roadway  made 
by  human  hands  could  excel  it,  and  here  the  racing  motor 
cars  break  the  world's  speed  records.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  island  is  a  slender  shallow  arm  of  the  sea,  for  much  of  the 
distance  known  as  the  Halifax  River.  This  is  the  home 
of  billions  of  oysters  on  which  the  aborigines  fed  from  time 
immemorial,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  great  heaps  of  shells  along 
the  banks.  Some  of  the  heaps  are  miniature  hills.  Such 
mounds  are  distributed  very  evenly  along  the  greater  length 
of  the  eastern  seaboard.  Two  important  towns  beside  the 
Halifax  River  are  Ormond  and  Daytona,  and  just  south  of 
Mosquito  Inlet  is  New  Smyrna,  the  oldest  settlement  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  south  of  St.  Augustine. 

Not  far  below  New  Smyrna  is  the  north  end  of  the  Indian 
River,  and  the  distance  to  its  other  end  at  Jupiter  Inlet 
is  one  hundred  and  forty  miles.  The  most  interesting  fact 
about  this  river  is  that  it  is  not  a  river  at  all,  but  a  salt  water 
sound,  superlatively  safe,  placid,  and  beautiful.  It  varies  in 
width  from  scarcely  a  hundred  feet  at  the  Narrows  to  eight 
miles,  and  is  so  straight  that  when  one  looks  along  it  north 
or  south  water  and  sky  seem  to  meet.  The  soil  of  the  main 
land  which  borders  this  "streak  of  silver  sea"  is  unsurpassed 
for  the  cultivation  of  citrus  fruits  and  pineapples.  The 
pineapples  hide  the  earth  on  the  ridge  next  to  the  river  for 


Florida  197 

miles  and  miles  with  their  prickly  green  leaves.  Much  of 
the  country  back  of  the  narrow  fertile  belt  is  wilderness 
haunted  by  bears,  panthers,  wild  cats,  and  deer,  and  by 
wild  turkeys  and  the  lesser  varieties  of  wild  fowl.  One 
proof  offered  of  the  winter  blandness  of  the  Indian  River 
region  is  that  its  frequenters,  male  and  female,  sometimes 
bathe  the  old  year  out  and  the  new  year  in.  Most  of  the  time 
there  is  a  gentle  breeze  coming  inland  from  the  warm  waters 
of  the  Gulf  Stream. 

The  next  slender  coast  lagoon  is  Lake  Worth,  twenty -two 
miles  long,  and  on  the  peninsula  that  lies  eastward  is  the 
world-famed  Palm  Beach,  the  "millionaires'  playground." 
Here  is  the  largest  hotel  for  tourists  in  existence,  six  stories 
high,  and  nearly  a  fifth  of  a  mile  long,  with  accommodations 
for  two  thousand  people.  Palm  Beach  is  a  gem  in  a  jungle, 
for  wilderness  merging  into  the  Everglades  begins  to  the 
westward  almost  with  the  lake  shore. 

The  chief  place  farther  south  is  the  "Magic  City,"  Miami, 
which  consisted  only  of  a  store  and  several  houses  in  1895. 
On  one  of  the  beaches  about  a  dozen  miles  down  the  coast  is 
a  bed  of  "singing  sand  "  that  emits  a  musical  sound  under 
foot. 

From  the  southern  end  of  Florida  a  line  of  islands  ex 
tends  in  a  gentle  curve  for  two  hundred  miles  to  Key  West 
and  beyond.  These 
islands,  or  keys  as 
they  are  called,  are 
of  coral.  Fully  fifty 
of  them  are  inhabited 
and  productive.  The 
largest  is  thirty  miles 
long.  The  journey 
from  Miami  to  Key 
West  is  by  the  World's  A  SPONGE  BOAT,  KEY  WEST 


198 


What  to  See  in  America 


first  sea-going  railway,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long, 
which  cost  upward  of  $100,000  a  mile.  Fully  half  the  track 
is  over  the  water.  One  viaduct  is  seven  miles  long.  The 
first  through  train  reached  Key  West  in  January,  1912,  and 
went  on  by  the  huge  car  ferry  that  conveys  trains  direct  to 
the  Cuban  capital,  ninety  miles  distant.  Key  West  is  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  nearer  the  equator  than  Los  Angeles, 
and  one  hundred  miles  nearer  the  equator  than  the  south 
ernmost  part  of  Texas.  The  city  is  on  a  small  island  of  the 
same  name,  commanding  the  entrance  to  the  Gulf  of 

Mexico,  and  has  been 
called  "America's  Gi 
braltar."  The  words  Key 
West  are  a  crude  English 
pronunciation  of  the 
Spanish  name  for  the  is 
land  —  Cayo  Hueso .  This 
name  means  Bone  Island. 
According  to  tradition, 
the  native  tribes  inhabit 
ing  the  keys  were  grad 
ually  driven  from  one 
island  to  another  by  a 
more  powerful  mainland 
tribe  until  they  were 
nearly  exterminated  in  a 
i  ?..  ~.  /,  •*r  :<••**"••.  final  battle  on  Key  West. 

"LOGGERHEAD  KEY,  DRY  TORTUGAB         The  abundance  of  human 

bones  found  on  the  island 

when  it  was  first  discovered  suggested  its  name.  The  city 
is  an  important  port  for  sponge  fishermen,  and  the  one 
hundred  and  fifty  little  sailing  vessels  of  the  sponge  fleet 
are  constantly  going  and  coming.  South  of  Key  West  is 
Sand  Key,  a  small  island,  which  is  nearer  the  tropics  than 


Florida 


199 


M   THE    StlWANNEE    RlVER 


any  other  point 
in  the  United 
States.  A  light 
house  is  located 
on  it.  Farther 
west  are  two 
groups  of  islands, 
the  more  remote 
of  which  is  the 
Dry  Tortugas, 
seventy  miles 
from  Key  West. 
Tortugas  is  Spanish  for  turtles,  and  the  name  refers  to  the 
abundance  of  these  creatures  and  the  dearth  of  fresh  water 
there. 

The  next  person  after  Ponce  de  Leon  to  undertake  the 
exploration  of  Florida  was  Panfilo  de  Xarvaez,  who  arrived 
with  four  hundred  men  on  the  southwest  coast  in  April, 
1529,  commissioned  by  the  king  of  Spain  to  conquer  and 
govern  a  province.  A  part  of  his  force  sailed  northward  in 
the  vessels,  but  he  and  the  larger  part  made  their  way  in 
that  direction  on  the  land,  fighting  Indians  and  nearly  starv 
ing.  At  length 
they  arrived  at 
the  Bay  of  St. 
Marks.  Where 
their  vessels  were 
they  did  not 
know,  and  after 
continuing  west 
ward  to  Chocta- 
whatchee  Bay 
they  built  boats 

LAKE  PARKER,  NEAR  LAKELAND  in     which     they 


200  What  to  See  in  America 

purposed  to  keep  along  the  coast  to  Mexico.  But  the  boats 
were  wrecked,  and  they  suffered  much  from  the  Indians, 
and  from  disease  and  famine.  They  even  lived  for  a  time 
on  the  bodies  of  those  who  died.  Only  five  got  back  to 
civilization. 

The  oldest  place  in  the  northwest  section  of  the  state  is 
Pensacola,  begun  by  the  Spaniards  in  1696,  destroyed  by 
the  French  in  1719,  and  rebuilt  by  the  Spaniards  three 
years  later.  "Old  Hickory"  marched  on  and  captured  the 
place  in  1812,  because  the  harbor  was  made  a  rendezvous 
for  a  British  fleet,  and  the  town  a  base  of  supplies  for 
hostile  Indians.  He  captured  it  in  1818  again  for  similar 

reasons.  The  harbor  is 
said  to  be  the  finest  one 
on  the  Gulf,  and  Pensa 
cola  has  developed  into 
a  stirring  modern  city. 

After  Florida  passed 
into  American  hands  Tal 
lahassee  was  picked  out 
for  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  because  of  the 
general  beauty  of  the  sit 
uation,  and  the  noble 
growths  of  live  oaks  and 
magnolias  there.  It  oc 
cupies  seven  hills,  and 
is  sometimes  called  the 
"Hill  City."  Another 
name  it  has  acquired  is 

PICKING  ORANGES  ,1        u/^-x          £    T^I  » 

the      City  or   r  lowers. 

Everywhere  are  gardens,  and  the  people  are  rivals  in  their 
ambition  to  surpass  each  other  in  the  floral  adorning  of  their 
home  surroundings.  Prince  Murat,  oldest  son  of  the  famous 


Florida  201 

marshal  of  France  whom  Napoleon  made  King  of  Naples, 
was  a  former  resident  of  Tallahassee,  and  there  you  can  see 
his  home.  The  mocking-birds  are  reputed  to  be  more  nu 
merous  in  this  vi- 
cinity  than  in 
any  other  part  of 
the  South.  Fif 
teen  miles  down 
toward  the  Gulf 
is  a  wonderful 
spring,  the  Wa- 
kulla,  which  sends  .  fli^~ 

off  a  full-grown 
river  of  the  same 
name  from  its 
single  outburst.  The  entire  region  is  full  of  remarkable 
springs,  caves,  sinks,  and  natural  bridges.  Southeast  of 
Tallahassee  extends  a  vast  belt  of  woods  merging  into  an 
almost  impenetrable  swamp  and  tangle  of  undergrowth. 
This  is  a  famous  hunting-ground,  and  somewhere  in  the 
watery  jungle  is  the  "Wakulla  Volcano,"  whence  rises  a 
column  of  smoke  or  vapor  from  a  spot  so  far  within  the 
swamp  that  no  one  has  been  able  to  get  to  it.  In  the  north 
ern  central  part  of  the  state  is  the  Suwannee  River,  im 
mortalized  in  that  best  loved  of  all  plantation  songs,  "  The 
Old  Folks  at  Home." 

There  are  at  least  30,000  lakes  in  Florida.  They  are 
particularly  numerous  in  the  central  part,  which  for  this 
reason  has  been  called  the  "Lake  District."  In  Lake 
County  alone  are  1400  lakes  large  enough  to  have  names. 
Lake  Okechobee  is  the  largest  fresh-water  lake  within  the 
limits  of  the  LTnited  States,  except  Lake  Michigan.  Florida 
is  the  greatest  producer  of  phosphate  of  any  region  in  the 
world.  Lakeland  is  the  state's  chief  center  of  this  industry. 


202 


What  to  See  in  America 


From  the  Central  Lake  Region  come  more  oranges  and  grape 
fruit  than  from  any  other  section  of  Florida.  The  orange- 
picking  season  continues  from  November  to  April.  As 
many  as  10,000  oranges  have  been  picked  from  a  single 
tree  in  a  season. 

Among  the  attractive  places  on  the  west  coast  is  Tarpon 
Springs,  the  "Venice  of  the  South."     It  is  famous  as  a 

winter  resort  and 
for  being  the 
port  of  the  larg 
est  sponge  fisher 
ies  in  the  world. 
The  important 
commercial  city 
of  Tampa  is 
near  where  Fort 
Brooke  was  es 
tablished  in  1821. 
The  site  of  the 
fort,  the  old  bar 
racks  of  which  are  still  standing,  is  now  a  public  park. 
Within  the  park  limits  are  the  remains  of  several  aboriginal 
mounds.  On  the  tip  of  the  peninsula  which  separates 
Tampa  Bay  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  St.  Petersburg,  the 
" Sunshine  City,"  where  is  published  a  newspaper  which 
has  gained  great  notoriety  by  offering  free  its  entire  edition 
on  every  day  that  the  sun  fails  to  shine.  The  sunless  days 
do  not  average  more  than  half  a  dozen  in  a  year.  The 
neighboring  waters  teem  with  fish,  the  most  noteworthy  of 
which  are  the  tarpon,  or  "Silver  King,"  the  finest  game 
fish  in  the  sea.  Adult  tarpon  often  exceed  six  feet  in  length 
and  may  weigh  over  two  hundred  pounds.  Charlotte  Har 
bor  is  also  a  favorite  resort  for  tarpon  fishing.  Down  on  the 
Caloosahatchee  River  is  Fort  Myers,  nestling  in  the  shade 


IN  THE  BIG  CYPRESS 


Florida  203 

of  its  cocoa  palms.  This  is  the  outfitting  point  for  cruises 
farther  south  into  the  bird-haunted  labyrinths  of  the  Ten 
Thousand  Islands. 

From  Fort  Myers,  too,  you  can  go  by  boat  up  the  river 
and  through  a  canal  to  Lake  Okechobee,  and  then  by  another 
canal  on  across  the  Everglades  to  West  Palm  Beach.  The 
canals  are  a  recent  innovation,  and  have  for  their  chief 
purpose  the  draining  of  the  land  and  fitting  the  rich  soil 
for  cultivation.  The  Everglades  occupy  a  shallow  basin 
one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  north  and  south  and  seventy 
east  and  west,  which  makes  a  total  area  much  the  same  as 
the  state  of  Connecticut.  It  is  not  exactly  land  and  not 
exactly  water.  There  is  too  much  water  to  travel  by  land, 
and  too  much  rank  saw-edged  grass  to  journey  freely  by 
water.  The  only  relief  to  its  level  prairie-like  monotony  is 
a  dotting  of  islets  heavy  with  tropical  growths,  and  usually 
plumed  with  one  or  two  palmettos.  The  water  is  nowhere 
stagnant  or  wholly  at  rest,  and  is  clear,  limpid,  and  palatable. 
Not  until  1883  did  any  organized  expedition  cross  the  Ever 
glades.  Here  dwell  about  three  hundred  Seminoles,  who 
are  some  of  the  most  picturesque  Indians  in  the  United  States. 
They  are  a  remnant  of  the  large  tribe  against  which  the 
government  waged  war  from  1835  to  1842  at  a  cost  of  1500 
lives  and  $20,000,000.  Osceola  was  one  of  their  leaders,  and 
Coacoochee,  or  "Wildcat,"  another.  Early  in  the  war  the 
Indians  surprised  one  hundred  and  ten  United  States 
Regulars  near  the  WTahoo  Swamp  on  their  way  from  Fort 
Brooke  to  Fort  King,  now  Ocala,  and  killed  all  but  two. 
On  Christmas  Day,  1837,  a  general  engagement  was  fought 
on  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Okechobee.  The  outcome 
of  the  war  was  the  deportation  of  most  of  the  tribe  to  Western 
reservations. 

Floridians  are  popularly  called  "  Fly-up-the-creeks, "  a 
name  borne  by  some  of  the  small  herons  of  the  state. 


A  STREET  IN  MOBILE 


ott  PUD.  Co. 


XX 

Alabama 

In  1702  the  French  established  themselves  on  the  shores  of 
Mobile  Bay,  but  things  did  not  go  smoothly.  There  was  a 
curious  revolt  known  as  the  "Petticoat  Insurrection" 
when  the  women  of  the  place  became  dissatisfied  with 
Indian  corn  as  their  staple  article  of  food,  and  threatened 
rebellion.  A  hurricane  and  flood  wrhich  nearly  destroyed 
the  settlement  in  1711  caused  the  people  to  remove  to  the 
site  of  the  present  city,  the  oldest  settlement  in  Alabama. 
For  the  next  nine  years  Mobile  was  the  seat  of  government 
of  the  vast  Louisiana  territory.  The  best  knowTi  episode  in 
its  history  is  Rear-admiral  Farragut's  forcing  his  way  into 
the  Bay  in  the  Civil  War.  The  main  entrance,  which  is 
about  thirty  miles  below  the  city,  was  guarded  on  either  side 

204 


Alabama  205 

by  a  fort,  and  the  channels  between  the  forts  were  filled 
with  obstructions  and  torpedoes,  while  within  the  bay  were 
three  Confederate  gunboats  and  a  powerful  ironclad  ram. 
Farragut's  fleet  of  fourteen  wooden  steamers,  lashed  together 
in  pairs,  and  four  monitors,  started  early  on  the  morning 
of  August  5,  1864.  He  himself  gave  orders  from  the  shrouds 
of  his  flagship,  where  he  was  tied  lest  he  should  fall  into  the 
sea  or  onto  the  deck,  if  he  should  be  shot.  One  monitor  was 
soon  destroyed  by  a  torpedo,  but  the  rest  of  the  vessels 
pushed  on  past  the  forts  and  captured  or  destroyed  all  the 
enemy  fleet  except  one  gunboat.  The  forts  surrendered  soon 
afterward.  Mobile,  however,  held  out  till  April  of  the  next 
year.  Some  of  the  old  intrenchments  about  it  can  still 
be  seen.  The  modern  town  has  a  good  deal  of  charm  with 
its  broad,  quiet  residence  streets  shaded  by  magnolias  and 
live  oaks,  and  its  gardens,  which  in  spring  are  fragrant 
with  orange  blossoms  and  jasmine. 

The  Indians  long  continued  to  be  a  menace  in  Alabama, 
and  prevented  settlers  from  pushing  inland.  It  suffered 
most  from  them  in  1813.  At  that  time,  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Alabama  River,  near  where  it  joins  the  Tombigbee  forty 
miles  north  of  Mobile,  was  Fort  Mims,  consisting  of  a 
stockade  surrounding  a  blockhouse  and  some  other  build 
ings.  The  fort  bore  the  name  of  the  farmer  who  owned 
the  premises.  To  it  the  settlers  had  flocked  for  protection. 
At  eleven  o'clock,  one  August  morning,  preparations  were 
being  made  to  whip  a  negro,  who  had  been  out  attending  the 
cattle,  for  making  what  was  believed  to  be  a  false  report  that 
Indians  were  prowling  near.  Suddenly  a  thousand  Creek 
warriors  made  a  rush  on  the  defenses.  The  stockade  gate 
was  open,  and  many  of  the  Indians  got  inside,  but  the  resist 
ance  was  stubborn,  and  the  battle  lasted  till  late  in  the  day. 
Nearly  all  the  five  hundred  men,  women,  and  children  in 
the  fort  were  killed,  and  fully  as  great  a  loss  was  inflicted 


206  What  to  See  in  America 

on  the  savages.  Tennessee  sent  3500  men  under  Gen. 
Jackson  to  deal  with  the  Creeks,  and  he  rendered  them  almost 
helpless  by  a  bloody  defeat  at  Talladega,  and  another,  forty 
miles  to  the  southeast,  at  the  Horseshoe  Bend  of  the  Talla- 
poosa  River,  where  they  had  taken  refuge  behind  breastworks 
erected  across  the  neck  of  the  bend. 

The  capital  of  the  state  is  Montgomery,  the  "Cradle  of 
the  Confederacy."  Its  first  white  settler  built  a  cabin  there 
in  1815.  A  few  other  settlers  straggled  into  the  vicinity  in 
the  next  few  years,  and  the  brow  of  the  commanding  height 
now  occupied  by  the  State  House  was  adorned  with  goat- 
sheds  and  was  called  Goat  Hill.  Three  tiny  hamlets 
developed  —  New  Philadelphia,  Alabama  Town,  and  East 
Alabama  Town  —  but  these  united  in  1819  under  the  name 
Montgomery.  This  became  the  capital  in  1847  after  several 
other  places  had  served  in  that  capacity.  The  archives 
were  brought  from  Tuscaloosa,  a  hundred  miles  northwest, 
in  one  hundred  and  thirteen  cases  loaded  on  thirteen  wagons. 
It  was  at  Montgomery  that  delegates  from  all  the  seceding 
states  met  in  February,  1861,  and  organized  the  Confederate 
government.  On  the  18th  of  the  month,  amid  unbounded 
enthusiasm,  Jefferson  Davis,  standing  in  the  front  portico 
of  the  Capitol,  was  inaugurated  as  president.  Near  the 
State  House  is  an  old  slave  market  with  all  its  details  intact. 

Forty  miles  east  of 
Montgomery  is  the  typ 
ical  old  southern  town  of 
Tuskegee  where  Booker 
Washington  founded  his 
famous  Normal  and  In 
dustrial  School  for  ne 
groes  in  1881.  It  is  in 
what  is  known  as  the 

STATE  HOUSE,  MONTUOMEKY  Black  Belt  of  the  South. 


Alabama 


207 


Originally  the  term 
"Black  Belt"  referred 
to  the  soil,  which  in  this 
section  is  dark  and  nat 
urally  rich.  Slaves  were 
most  profitable  on  such 
land  and  were  taken 
there  in  the  largest  num 
bers.  Latterly  the  words 
have  come  to  designate 
the  region  where  the 
black  people  outnumber 
the  whites.  In  some  of 
the  counties  the  propor 
tion  runs  five  or  six  to 
one.  Mr.  Washington 
began  his  task  with  thirty 
students  in  a  rather  di 
lapidated  shanty,  and  a 
near-by  colored  Methodist  church,  which  was  not  much 
better.  During  the  earlier  months  that  he  taught  in  the 
shanty  it  was  in  such  poor  repair  that,  when  there  was  rain, 
one  of  the  students  would  hold  an  umbrella  over  him  while 
he  heard  the  recitations  of  the  others.  Also,  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  his  landlady  held  an  umbrella  over  him  while 
he  ate  breakfast.  But  as  time  went  on  the  school  developed 
into  the  largest,  most  useful  educational  institution  for  col 
ored  youth  in  the  world,  and  Mr.  Washington  was  univer 
sally  recognized  as  one  of  the  sanest  and  most  eloquent 
leaders  his  race  has  produced. 

The  state's  name  is  of  Indian  derivation  and  means  "Here 
we  rest."  The  nickname  for  the  people  is  "Lizards." 
These  creatures  are  numerous  there,  and  the  way  the  poorer 
people  used  to  live  along  woodland  streams  was  suggestive  of 


FRONT  OF  COURTHOUSE  AT  TUSKEGEE 


208  What  to  See  in  America 

lizards.  The  "Cotton  State,"  as  Alabama  is  called,  indicates 
its  leading  industry.  But  the  production  of  iron  is  also 
of  great  importance,  and  Birmingham  is  known  as  the  "  Pitts- 
burg  of  the  South."  The  city  is  located  on  an  old  cotton 
plantation.  In  1880  it  had  a  population  of  3000.  Now  it 
has  over  130,000,  and  is  the  state's  largest  city.  It  claims 
to  be  the  best-lighted  city  in  the  world.  Birmingham  owes 
its  phenomenal  growth  to  Red  Mountain,  near  by,  which 
contains  inexhaustible  stores  of  iron  ore  in  conjunction  with 
abundant  coal  and  limestone. 

Sixty  miles  directly  east  of  Birmingham  is  Cheaha  Moun 
tain,  the  state's  loftiest  height,  with  an  elevation  of  2407 
feet. 


AN  OLD  TAVERN  BESIDE  WOLF  CREEK 

XXI 

Tennessee 

Tennessee's  first  permanent  settlement  was  made  in  1769 
by  fourteen  families  that  came  across  the  mountains  from 
North  Carolina.  The  men,  who  led  the  way,  often  had  to 
clear  a  road  with  their  axes  for  the  mixed  procession  of 
women,  children,  dogs,  cows,  and  pack  horses.  They 
settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Watauga  where  it  is  joined  by 
Boones  Creek  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  state. 

In  1784  the  people  of  eastern  Tennessee  formed  the  in 
dependent  state  of  Franklin,  but  this  only  survived  three 
years.  It  was  in  this  short-lived  commonwealth  that  the 
famous  frontiersman,  Davy  Crockett,  was  born  in  1786  near 
the  present  town  of  Rogersville.  He  had  five  brothers  and 
three  sisters.  The  log  cabin  of  the  family  stood  where 
Limestone  Creek  joins  the  Nolichucky  River.  Davy's 
p  209 


210  What  to  See  in  America 

father  cleared  land  on  which  to  raise  crops,  but  depended 
mainly  on  hunting  and  trapping  for  a  living. 

A  Frenchman  settled  near  the  site  of  Nashville  in  1775, 
and  three  years  later  a  Kentucky  hunter  passed  the  winter 
in  the  vicinity,  utilizing  a  great  hollow  sycamore  for  shelter. 
Close  by  was  the  Cumberland  River.  A  neighboring  salt 
spring  made  it  a  noted  resort  of  Indians  and  buffaloes. 
Some  years  ago  the  huge  bones  of  a  mastodon  were  exhumed 
from  the  alluvial  deposit  on  the  margin  of  the  spring.  Near 
by  was  a  cemetery  of  rude  stone  graves  of  the  long-vanished 
mound  building  race.  On  Christmas  Day,  1779,  more  than 
two  hundred  hardy  pioneers  from  eastern  Tennessee  arrived 
at  the  salt  spring.  Late  in  the  same  month  their  families 
started  to  join  them  in  "the  good  boat  Adventure,"  which 
carried  a  sail,  and  in  other  boats  and  canoes.  They  came 
down  the  Holston  and  Tennessee  rivers,  and  up  the  Ohio 
and  Cumberland,  a  winding  journey  of  over  a  thousand  miles, 
and  arrived  April  24,  a  good  deal  depleted  by  hostile 
Indians,  accidents,  and  disease.  One  of  the  voyagers  was 
Rachel  Donelson,  who  afterward  became  mistress  of  the 
White  House  as  the  wife  of  President  Jackson.  Cabins  and 
a  fort  were  built  on  the  commanding  bluff  north  of  the 
river,  and  for  the  time  being  the  settlement  was  the  advance 

guard  of  western  civ 
ilization.      One    day 

•  ••jjL  the  savages  made   a 

surprise  attack,  and 
forced  their  way  al 
most  to  the  gates  of 
the  fort  located  near 
the  present  corner  of 
Market  and  Church 
streets.  At  an  OP- 
STATE  HOUSE,  NASHVILLE  portune  moment  a 


Tennessee 


211 


pack  of  powerful  watch 
dogs  and  hounds  was 
turned  loose.  With  their 
help  the  "Battle  of  the 
Bluffs"  was  won,  and  the 
fort  and  settlement  were 
saved. 

Nashville  became  the 
capital  in  1843.  It  was 
captured  by  a  Union 
army  in  February,  1862, 
after  desperate  fighting. 
Thomas,  Sherman,  and 
Grant  all  held  command 
there  at  different  times. 
The  Southern  soldiers 
who  fell  in  the  battles 
around  the  city  are 
buried  in  the  beautiful 
grounds  of  the  Confeder 
ate  Circle  at  Mt.  Olivet, 
while  the  Federal  dead 
sleep  peacefully  in  the 
National  Cemetery  not 

far  away.  Within  the  city  limits  are  fully  eighty  schools 
and  colleges,  including  the  famous  Fisk  University  for  the 
education  of  negro  teachers,  which  was  founded  in  1867, 
and  which  its  Jubilee  Singers  sang  into  success.  The  stately 
residence  of  James  K.  Polk,  eleventh  President  of  the 
United  States,  still  stands  in  the  center  of  the  city. 
Twelve  miles  east  is  the  Hermitage,  the  hospitable  mansion 
of  President  Andrew  Jackson.  In  a  corner  of  its  garden  he 
and  his  wife  are  buried  beneath  a  handsome  marble  tomb. 

Memphis,  the  chief  city  of  Tennessee,  and  the  largest  on 


FALLS  OF  ROCK  CREEK 


212 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  Mississippi  River  between  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans, 
is  situated  on  a  bluff  which  rises  sixty  feet  above  the  highest 
floods.  Here  De  So  to  discovered  the  great  river  in  1541, 
after  wandering  for  two  years  through  the  American  wilder 
ness  from  Florida ;  here  La  Salle  built  a  fort  in  1682,  which 
was  later  abandoned ;  and  here  the  Spaniards  established 
themselves  for  a  time.  When  the  town  was  organized  in 
1819  there  were  a  few  straggling  shanties  clustered  around  a 
primitive  warehouse  near  the  river.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War  it  had  a  population  of  23,000,  and  the  claim  is 
made  that  no  other  city  furnished  so  large  a  proportion  of 
men  to  the  Confederate  armies.  In  1862  a  fleet  of  Union 

gunboats  came 
down  the  river 
and  defeated  the 
Confederate  fleet 
before  the  city, 
while  the  popu 
lace  lined  the 
bank  and  looked 
on.  Memphis 
then  surrendered 
and  never  again 
was  under  Con 
federate  control 
except  for  a  few 
hours,  two  years 

later,  when  the  brilliant  cavalry  leader,  Gen.  Forrest, 
made  a  raid  into  the  place.  At  Memphis  is  the  only  bridge 
across  the  Mississippi  south  of  St.  Louis. 

Nearly  the  whole  state  was  a  battleground  during  the 
Civil  War.  Fort  Henry  on  the  Tennessee  River  near  the 
Kentucky  border  was  captured  by  Gen.  Grant  early  in 
February,  1862,  and  within  a  week  he  was  besieging  the 


©  Detroit  Pub.  Co. 
MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  STEAMBOATS,  MEMPHIS 


Tennessee 


213 


A  NEGRO  COTTON  FARMER'S  HOME 


much  stronger  Fort 

Donelson,  twelve 

miles  east,  overlook 
ing  the  Cumberland 

River  from   a   bluff 

one    hundred    feet 

high.     After  a  siege 

of    only    five    days 

the  fort  surrendered. 

The     next     month 

was  fought  the  great 

Battle  of  Shiloh  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  an  obscure  stopping 

place  for  boats  on  the  Tennessee  River  a  little  north  of  the 

Mississippi  boundary.     After  a  day  of  disaster  Grant's  army 

was  driven  back  to  the 
river  in  nearly  utter  rout, 
with  a  loss  of  about  one 
fifth  in  prisoners.  That 
night  Gen.  Buell  arrived 
with  20,000  men,  after  a 
forced  march  of  twenty- 
five  miles,  one  of  the 
finest  feats  in  Ameri 
can  military  history,  and 
what  had  promised  to  be 
an  overwhelming  victory 
for  the  Confederates  was 
turned  into  u  disastrous 
defeat. 

There  was  much  fight 
ing  farther  east  in  the 
neighborhood  of  that  im 
portant  strategic  point, 

PITTSBURG  LANDING,   SHILOH  BATTLE-      ^ 

FIELD  Chattanooga.    Lookout 


214 


What  to  See  in  America 


LEDGES  OF  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN 


Mountain,  over  2000  feet 
high,  rises  south  of  the  city 
and  commands  a  view  into 
seven  states.  This  mountain 
was  the  scene  of  the  "  Battle 
above  the  Clouds,"  Novem 
ber  24,  1863.  A  few  miles 
away  is  Missionary  Ridge, 
where  was  fought,  only  a  day 
later,  one  of  the  bloodiest 
encounters  of  the  war.  Out 
of  121,000  men  engaged, 
35,000  were  killed  or  wounded. 
Knoxville  is  the  chief  city 
of  eastern  Tennessee.  Thir 
teen  miles  to  the  southwest 
is  Lowes  Ferry,  where  Ad 
miral  Farragut  was  born  in  1801.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War  every  effort  was  made  by  his  fellow  Southrons  to 
induce  him  to  join  the  Secession  forces,  but  he  refused,  say 
ing,  "  Mind  what  I  tell  you  —  you  fellows  will  catch  the 
devil  before  you  get  through  with  this  business." 

Thunderbolt,  one  of  the  finest  heights  in  the  Great  Smoky 
Mountains,  can  be  conveniently  visited  from  Knoxville. 
Near  the  mountain  is  a  reservation  containing  about  1800 
Cherokee  Indians.  Tennessee's  highest  peak  is  Mt.  Guyot, 
about  midway  on  the  eastern  boundary,  with  an  elevation  of 
6636  feet. 

The  state  bears  an  Indian  name  which  means  River 
with  the  Great  Bend.  Its  popular  name  is  the  "Volunteer 
State."  This  was  acquired  during  the  War  of  1812,  because 
of  the  large  number  of  Tennessee  volunteers.  The  people 
are  called  "Butternuts"  from  the  color  of  clothes  worn  by 
the  state  troops  in  the  Civil  War. 


A  BLUE  GRASS  MANSION  NEAR  LEXINGTON 

XXII 
Kentucky 

The  most  famous  of  Kentucky  pioneers  was  Daniel  Boone. 
He  made  his  first  journey  into  the  region  from  North  Caro 
lina  in  May,  1769,  and  remained  for  two  years.  Once,  during 
that  time,  the  Indians  captured  him,  but  a  week  later  he 
escaped  while  his  captors  lay  sleeping  around  a  camp  fire  in 
a  canebreak.  One  of  his  companions  was  slain  by  the 
savages,  and  another  was  attacked  and  killed  by  wolves. 
He  saw  hundreds  of  buffalo  in  a  drove,  and  the  numbers 
around  the  salt  springs  were  amazing. 

In  1774  a  settlement  was  made  at  Harrodsburg,  about 
thirty  miles  south  of  Frankfort,  and  the  next  year  Boone 
guided  a  party  through  the  wilderness  to  the  Kentucky 
River,  eighteen  miles  southeast  of  Lexington,  where  they 
started  the  settlement  of  Boonesboro  by  building  a  fort  near 
a  salt  lick.  The  name  adopted  by  the  early  comers  for 
what  is  now  Kentucky  was  the  "Colony  of  Transylvania," 
and  so  it  was  known  for  several  years.  Boone  helped  to 

215 


216  What  to  See  in  America 

conquer  an  empire,  but  he  was  a  picturesque  adventurer 
rather  than  a  successful  leader.  In  his  old  age  he  stated  that 
he  "had  no  spot  he  could  call  his  own,  whereon  to  lay  his 
bones,"  and  he  died  landless.  At  least  thirty  places  in  the 
United  States  have  been  named  after  him.  He  is  buried  at 
Frankfort,  the  capital,  in  a  cemetery  on  one  of  the  suburban 
hills. 

The  name  of  the  state  is  of  Indian  derivation,  and  means 
"  the  dark  and  bloody  ground."  This  alludes  to  the  contests 
between  the  aboriginal  tribes  who  made  it  their  common 
hunting  place,  yet  dwelt  outside  of  its  bounds.  The  people 
are  nicknamed  "Corn-crackers."  The  word  is  a  corruption 
of  corn-crake,  which  is  a  species  of  game  bird  common  in 
the  state,  and  is  so  called  from  its  peculiar  cry,  and  its  habit 
of  frequenting  corn  fields. 

All  the  surface  of  Kentucky,  except  the  mountainous 
eastern  part,  abounds  in  mounds,  ditched  and  walled  fortifi 
cations,  and  other  evidences  of  a  considerable  ancient  popu 
lation  more  given  to  agriculture  than  our  ordinary  Indians. 
These  people  were,  however,  of  the  same  race.  Their  only 
peculiarity  was  that  in  the  period  of  their  mound-building 
and  agricultural  activity  the  buffalo  was  as  yet  unknown  in 
those  parts.  As  long  as  this  abundant  resource  of  the  chase 
was  unavailable,  a  chief  incentive  to  a  wild  life  was  lacking. 

Louisville,  the  metropolis  of  the  state,  is  an  important 
gateway  to  the  Southwest.  It  was  founded  in  1778  by 
George  Rogers  Clark,  the  noted  Indian  fighter  and  frontier 
leader.  He  built  a  fort  on  an  island  which  is  near  the  Ken 
tucky  shore  somewhat  down  the  Ohio  from  the  14th  Street 
bridge,  and  there  thirteen  families  established  themselves. 
Within  a  few  months  the  garrison  started  a  settlement  on 
the  neighboring  shore.  On  several  occasions  the  Indians 
surprised  and  captured  parties  beyond  the  protection  of  the 
fort.  This  led  Col.  Clark  to  improve  the  defense  of  the 


Kentucky 


217 


©  Detroit  Pub.  Co. 
HlGHBRIDGE,    KENTUCKY    RlVER 


settlement  by 
constructing  a 
rude  gunboat 
armed  with  four 
cannon.  The 
effectiveness  of 
this  war-craft 
may  have  been 
open  to  question, 
but  it  at  least 
kept  the  savages 
from  crossing  the 
river  in  its  vicin 
ity.  The  natu 
ralist,  Audubon,  came  to  Louisville  in  1809,  and  stayed 
there  while  he  collected  specimens  of  every  bird  that  could 
be  found  in  forest  or  field.  In  March,  1890,  a  terrific  tor 
nado  swept  through  the  heart  of  the  city,  leveling  almost 
everything  that  stood  in  its  way  in  a  path  seven  hundred 
feet  wide.  The  property  loss  was  $3,000,000,  and  seventy- 
six  persons  were  killed.  Kentucky  raises  more  tobacco  than 
any  other  state, 
and  Louisville  is 
the  greatest  to 
bacco  market  in 
the  world. 

Five  miles  east 
of  Louisville  is 
the  old  home  and 
burial-place  of 
President  Zach- 
ary  Taylor. 

Kentucky  is 
known  as  the  OHIO 


HE    MOUTH    OF   THE 


218 


What  to  See  in  America 


"Blue  Grass  State."  Blue  grass  is  not  peculiar  to  Ken 
tucky,  but  on  the  best  limestone  lands  of  that  state  it  attains 
remarkable  luxuriance.  It  is  called  "blue"  grass  on  account 
of  the  color  of  its  seed  vessels,  a  conspicuous  feature  during 
its  time  of  fruiting.  The  blue  grass  pastures  make  ideal 
grazing  for  live  stock.  The  chief  town  of  the  Blue  Grass 
Country  is  Lexington,  which  received  its  name  from  having 
been  founded  in  the  year  of  the  Battle  of  Lexington. 
Among  the  famous  stock  farms  near  it  is  Ashland,  formerly 
the  home  of  Henry  Clay.  At  Woburn,  fifteen  miles  from 
the  city,  that  famous  trotter,  Maud  S,  was  bred,  and  seven 
miles  north  of  the  city  is  Poplar  Hill,  the  birthplace  of 
Nancy  Hanks,  who  trotted  a  mile  in  2.4.  About  forty  miles 
south  from  Lexington,  on  the  edge  of  the  Cumberland 
Mountains,  is  Berea  College,  which  is  doing  such  excellent 
work  among  the  Mountain  Whites.  It  was  organized  in 

1855  for  the  education  of 
both  whites  and  negroes. 
Its  founder  was  a  clergy 
man  who  was  a  son  of  a 
slaveholder,  but  a  zealous 
opponent  of  slavery.  For 
this  opposition  his  father 
and  his  church  disowned 
him.  The  college  was 
suppressed  after  the  John 
Brown  affair,  and  its  offi 
cers  were  driven  from  the 
state,  but  it  was  revived 
after  the  war. 

Kentucky   has   many 
salty    swamps    called 
"licks,"    which   the   deer 
A  ROAD  NEAR  LINCOLN'S  BIRTHPLACE      and    elk   and    buffalo    fre- 


Kentucky 


219 


quented  in  pioneer  days.  The  largest  of  these  swamp- 
bordered  springs  is  the  Big  Bone  Lick,  about  twenty  miles 
southwest  of  Covington  in  the  most  northerly  nook  of  the 
state.  The  mire  there  contains  a  wonderful  mass  of  the 
bones  of  the  elephant,  mastodon,  musk-ox,  and  other  crea 
tures  which  are  now  extinct  or  which  a  change  of  climate 
long  ago  forced  to  leave  this  section. 

At  Gethsemane,  nearly  half  a  hundred  miles  southeast  of 
Louisville,  is  the  only  Trappist  monastery  in  the  United 
States.  Somewhat  to  the  west  is  Elizabethtown  where,  in 
1806,  Thomas  Lincoln  married  Nancy  Hanks.  The  next 
year  a  daughter  was  born  to  them,  and  they  moved  about  a 
dozen  miles  to  a  little  farm  near  Hodgenville.  Here  was 
born  Abraham  Lincoln,  February  12,  1809,  and  here  he  lived 
in  a  log  cabin  until  he  was  seven,  when  the  family  migrated 
to  Indiana.  A  costly  temple-like  structure  has  been  built 
where  the  home  stood, 
and  in  it  is  sheltered  what 
is  alleged  to  be  the  log 
cabin  in  which  the  mar 
tyred  president  was  born. 

Jefferson  Davis  was  also 
born  in  Kentucky,  and 
only  eight  months  earlier, 
and  barely  a  hundred  miles 
away  to  the  southwest  in 
what  is  now  Todd  County. 
He  was  the  youngest  of 
nine  children.  His  parents 
were  of  the  middle  class, 
the  owners  of  a  few  slaves, 
and  yet  doing  much  of 
their  own  work.  They 
SOOn moved  to  Mississippi.  ENTRANCE  TO  THE  MAMMOTH  CAVE 


220  What  to  See  in  America 

In  the  southern  central  part  of  the  state  is  the  Mammoth 
Cave,  the  largest  known  cavern  in  the  world.  The  various 
avenues  which  have  been  explored  have  a  total  length  of 
two  hundred  miles.  It  is  in  five  distinct  tiers.  Among  its 
features  are  Fat  Man's  Misery,  Dead  Sea,  Echo  River,  the 
Maelstrom,  the  Corkscrew,  Giant's  Coffin,  Bottomless  Pit, 
and  Star  Chamber.  Several  of  the  chambers  are  from  two 
hundred  to  three  hundred  feet  high.  The  cavern  has  its 
eyeless  fish  and  a  prolific  population  of  bats.  It  was  dis 
covered  in  1809  by  a  hunter,  who  entered  it  to  secure  a 
wounded  bear  which  had  found  shelter  there.  The  funnel- 
shaped  opening  is  in  a  rocky  forest  ravine.  The  temperature 
in  the  cave  is  maintained  at  from  fifty-two  to  fifty-six  degrees 
the  year  round.  In  summer  the  relatively  cool  air  flows  out, 
and  in  winter  the  colder  air  outside  is  drawn  in.  This  air 
movement  is  known  as  "the  breath  of  the  cave."  A  great 
section  of  the  state  has  limestone  near  enough  to  the  surface 
to  allow  streams  to  excavate  it.  Without  doubt  there  are 
100,000  miles  of  ways  large  enough  to  permit  the  easy 
passage  of  a  man. 

On  the  rugged  southeastern  border  of  the  state  is  Big 
Black  Mountain,  4100  feet  high,  the  loftiest  height  in  Ken 
tucky.  The  state  has  a  greater  frontage  on  navigable  rivers 
than  any  other  state  in  the  Union. 


Kentucky 


221 


A  CANAL  AT  HAMILTON 


XXIII 

Ohio 

A  Moravian  missionary  built  a  cabin  on  the  Tuscarawas  River 
in  1761,  and  this  was  the  first  white  man's  house  in  the 
limits  of  the  future  Ohio.  It  was  in  the  central  eastern  part 
of  the  state  near  New  Philadelphia.  Ohio's  first  church  was 
built  in  1772  at  a  Moravian  mission  village  in  this  same 
vicinity.  Two  other  villages  of  Indian  converts  were  estab 
lished  not  far  away,  but  in  September,  1781,  unfriendly 
natives  made  the  three  villages  a  scene  of  general  robbery 
and  violence.  The  villagers  all  left,  but  ninety-six  of  the 
Indian  men  and  women  converts  returned  in  February  to 
save  the  corn  left  standing  in  their  fields.  Before  they  could 
get  away  with  the  corn  ninety  men  from  the  Ohio  appeared, 
secured  the  Indians'  guns,  hatchets,  and  knives,  shut  the 
people  up  in  two  houses  at  the  village  of  Gnadenhutten,  and 
slaughtered  all  of  them  like  sheep.  A  missionary  came  back 

222 


Ohio  223 

in  1798,  gathered  up  the  relics  of  the  ninety-six  victims,  buried 
them  in  the  cellar  hole  of  one  of  the  houses,  arid  raised  a 
mound  over  the  spot. 

In  April,  1788,  Marietta  was  founded  where  the  Muskin- 
gum  joins  the  Ohio.  A  straggling  and  sparse  fringe  of 
frontiersmen  already  occupied  the  Ohio's  west  bank,  but 
Marietta  was  the  state's  earliest  organized  settlement.  The 
founders  were  forty-eight  men  from  Massachusetts,  most  of 
whom  had  seen  service  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  They 
had  journeyed  overland  with  their  wagons  along  an  old 
Indian  trail  through  Connecticut  and  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  the  western  part  of  the  latter  state  built  boats  on  the  banks 
of  the  Youghiogheny  and  finished  their  journey  by  water. 
A  fortification  consisting  of  blockhouses  and  a  double  palisade 
was  erected,  and  the  name  Campus  Martins  was  bestowed  on 
it.  The  4th  of  July  was  celebrated  by  a  procession  of  citizens 
and  soldiery,  an  oration,  and  a  great  "banquet"  eaten  in  a 
bowery  set  up  on  the  banks  of  the  Muskingum.  There  were 
barbecued  venison,  buffalo  steaks,  bear  meat,  roasted  pigs, 
and  a  pike  six  feet  long. 

The  families  of  the  pioneers  arrived  in  August.  The  next 
month  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  the  Territory  was 
opened,  and  the  sheriff,  Col.  Ebenezer  Sproat,  preceded  by  a 
military  escort,  marched  with  his  drawn  sword  and  wand  of 
office  ahead  of  the  governor,  judges,  and  others  to  the  block 
house  where  the  court  was  held.  Friendly  Indians  looking 
on  were  so  impressed  by  the  mighty  form  of  Col.  Sproat, 
who  was  six  feet  four  inches  tall,  that  they  ever  after  called 
him  "Big  Buckeye."  This  led  to  calling  all  Ohio  natives 
"buckeyes,"  and  Ohio  itself  the  "Buckeye  State."  The 
name  is  that  of  a  tree  of  the  horse-chestnut  family,  which, 
in  Ohio,  at  least,  is  conspicuous  for  its  height  and  symmetry. 

The  most  interesting  building  of  the  early  period  that  has 
survived  in  Marietta  is  the  "Two  Horn  Church"  of  the 


224 


What  to  See  in  America 


Congregationalists,  a  big  double-towered  wooden  structure 
erected  in  1806.  This  is  Ohio's  oldest  house  of  worship.  In 
what  is  known  as  the  "Old  Mound  Cemetery  "is  a  prehistoric 
mound  which  remains  just  as  it  was  found  by  the  pioneer 
fathers.  Round  about  are  the  graves  of  most  of  the  early 
settlers,  and  it  is  claimed  that  here  are  buried  more  officers 
of  the  Revolution  than  in  any  other  cemetery  in  the  United 
States. 

The  mound  mentioned  is  one  of  about  10,000,  large  and 
small,  scattered  over  Ohio.  In  no  other  state  have  the 
Mound  Builders  left  so  many  remarkable  works.  Especially 
noteworthy  are  those  at  Fort  Ancient  in  the  Little  Miami 
Valley,  and  Circleville  and  Chillicothe  in  the  Scioto  Valley. 
Some  are  of  huge  proportions.  In  the  southern  part  of  the 
state  beside  Brush  Creek,  seven  miles  from  the  railway 
station  of  Peebles,  is  the  famous  "Great  Serpent."  Across 
the  widely  opened  jaws  it  measures  seventy-five  feet,  and 
just  behind  the  head  thirty  feet.  It  is  five  feet  high,  and, 
following  the  curves,  1348  feet  long.  The  tail  is  a  triple 
coil.  Between  the  distended  jaws  is  an  oval  inclosure  one 
hundred  and  nine  feet  in  length  and  thirty-nine  broad  with  a 
heap  of  stones  at  its  center.  The  purposes  the  mounds 
r- — *«—  served  were  vari 

ous.  Some  were 
used  for  sepul 
chres,  some  for 
altars  or  religious 
rites,  others  prob- 
ably  for  resi 
dences,  and  many 
served  such  pur 
poses  as  advanced 
posts  or  signal 

A  CINCINNATI  BRIDGE  stations     in     COn- 


Ohio 


225 


I 
I 


©  Detroit  Pub.  Co. 
ROCKY  RIVER,  CLEVELAND 


nection  with  fortifi 
cations.  The  tree 
growths  on  them  in 
dicate  that  they 
must  all  have  been 
in  use  less  than  a 
thousand  years  ago, 
and  no  doubt  our  In 
dians  are  the  mound 
builders'  descend 
ants. 

Cincinnati  was 
founded  in  1778.  On  the  day  before  Christmas  twenty-six 
well-armed  men  in  deerskin  hunting  shirts  and  leggings 
embarked  in  rude  barges  of  their  own  construction  on  the 
Ohio  River  at  what  is  now  Maysville,  Kentucky.  They 
steered  their  course  down  the  swollen  and  half-frozen 
stream,  and  at  the  end  of  four  days  found  a  haven  on  the 
north  side  in  Sycamore  Inlet,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the 
Licking  River.  There  they  converted  the  planks  and  tim 
bers  of  their  barges  into  cabins  right  on  the  trail  over 
which  the  aborigines  had  passed  to  and  fro  for  centuries 
between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Kentucky  hunting  grounds. 
A  fantastic  schoolmaster,  who  combined  a  smattering  knowl 
edge  of  classic  languages  with  a  lively  imagination,  com 
pounded  the  name  Losantiville  for  the  new  settlement.  It 
means  "The  village  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Licking." 
L  stands  for  Licking,  os  means  mouth,  and  anti  means 
opposite.  Shortly  after  naming  the  place  the  schoolmaster 
was  scalped  by  the  Indians.  The  name  seems  to  have 
required  too  much  explanation,  and  was  presently  changed 
to  Cincinnati.  The  city's  nearness  to  the  slave  states,  and 
its  close  social  and  commercial  relations  with  the  South,  led 
its  people  to  oppose  antislavery  laws  and  even  the  discussion 
Q 


226 


What  to  See  in  America 


of  slavery.  Neverthe 
less,  the  city  was  a 
rendezvous  for  fugi 
tive  slaves  escaping  to 
Canada,  and  no  less 
than  3000  in  all  were 
harbored  and  helped 
on  their  way  by  Levi 
Coffin,  a  Quaker  cit 
izen.  The  place  has 
developed  into  a  city 
of  homes  and  churches. 
It  is  America's  leading 
city  in  the  production 
of  schoolbooks,  is  near 
the  lead  in  issuing  re 
ligious  publications, 
and  it  turns  out  annu 
ally  some  50,000,000 
packs  of  playing  cards,  which  makes  it  the  largest  center 
of  this  industry  in  the  world.  The  city  has  a  frontage  of 
fourteen  miles  on  the  Ohio,  and  has  spanned  the  river  with 
five  massive  bridges  of  steel  and  stone. 

In  November,  1791,  the  Battle  of  the  Wabash  was  fought 
with  the  Indians  on  the  western  border  of  the  state  near 
the  present  town  of  Greenville.  An  army  of  1500  whites 
was  attacked  by  Turkey  Foot  and  his  savage  followers  in 
the  drifting  fog  of  dawning  day,  and  stampeded  like  a  herd 
of  crazed  cattle.  Nine  hundred  were  killed  or  wounded. 
During  the  next  two  years  the  Indians  were  left  free  to  make 
their  murderous  assaults  on  the  long  frontiers.  Then,  in 
August,  troops  led  by  "Mad  Anthony  Wayne"  encountered 
Turkey  Foot's  band  in  a  two-mile  strip  of  debris  left  by  a 
cyclone,  thirteen  miles  up  the  Maumee  River  from  Toledo. 


STATE  HOUSE,  COLUMBUS 


Ohio  227 

The  Battle  of  Fallen  Timber  was  a  decisive  victory  for  the 
whites.  Nearly  half  a  hundred  mighty  chiefs  were  slain, 
and  the  Indians  christened  their  conqueror  "Big  Thunder." 

The  final  fighting  with  Indians  in  Ohio  occurred  near 
Chillicothe  on  Paint  Creek  in  1793.  That  same  year  the 
last  buffalo  known  to  have  been  killed  in  Ohio  was  shot  on  the 
Hocking  River  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  state. 

The  Ohio  River  forms  all  of  the  state's  southern  boundary 
and  half  of  the  eastern  boundary.  The  Indian  name  for 
it  was  Ouabouskigou,  which  means  Beautiful  River,  and  from 
which  the  word  Ohio  was  derived.  The  channel  it  has  worn 
is  amazingly  deep.  Often  the  river  is  more  than  five  hundred 
feet  below  the  summits  of  the  gentle  hills  along  its  valley. 
The  average  stage  of  water  at  Cincinnati  is  eighteen  feet, 
but  in  floods  it  has  gone  over  seventy  feet.  The  first  steam 
boat  on  the  stream  was  the  Orleans,  which  was  launched  at 
Pittsburg  in  September,  1911,  and  started  on  a  voyage 
down  the  river.  Few  of  the  dwellers  on  the  banks  had  even 
heard  of  steamboats,  and  it  excited  wonder  and  terror 
among  them.  Some  fancied  that  a  comet,  which  at  the  time 
was  visible  in  the  night  sky,  had  fallen  into  the  river.  The 
boat  received  ovations  at  Cincinnati  and  Louisville. 

Cleveland,  the  largest  city  in  the  state,  and  called  the 
"  Forest  City"  on  account  of  its  abundant  trees,  was  founded 
in  1796,  but  long  continued  to  be  only  a  rustic  hamlet. 

Sixty  miles  west  of  Cleveland  is  Sandusky,  near  which 
are  the  famous  peach  orchards  of  Catawba  Island.  A  little 
way  out  in  the  lake  is  South  Bass  Island,  a  summer  resort 
of  a  good  deal  of  charm  near  which  Commodore  Perry  won 
his  great  naval  victory  in  September,  1813. 

The  capital  of  the  state  since  1816  has  been  Columbus. 
When  its  site  was  selected  the  spot  was  a  dense  forest. 

In  March,  1913,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  were  visited 
by  a  rainstorm  of  which  the  United  States  Weather  Bureau 


228 


What  to  See  in  America 


said  :  "  There  have  been  heavier  storms  in  restricted  localities, 
but  such  a  heavy  precipitation  extending  over  three  or  four 
days  in  such  a  large  area  is  unprecedented."  The  rivers 
rose  rapidly  and  broadened  out  over  a  far  greater  amount  of 
land  than  had  been  flooded  before  since  the  white  men  came 
to  the  region.  Hundreds  of  lives  were  lost.  The  place 
that  suffered  most  was  Dayton,  a  city  of  100,000  inhabitants, 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Mad  River  with  the  Great  Miami. 

Torrents  of  muddy  water 
raged  through  the  streets, 
and  the  estimated  loss  in 
that  county  alone  was 
$150,000,000. 

Ohio  ranks  next  to 
Virginia  as  a  mother  of 
Presidents.  Half  of  those 
who  have  occupied  the 
White  House  since  Lin 
coln's  death  have  been 
Ohio  born.  Gen.  Grant 
was  born  beside  the  Ohio 
in  1822  at  Point  Pleasant, 
thirty  miles  southeast  of 
Cincinnati.  Hayes  was 
born  the  same  year  at 
Delaware,  twenty-five 
miles  north  of  Columbus. 
Garfield  was  born  in  1831 
in  Orange  Township,  fif 
teen  miles  east  of  Cleveland.  Benjamin  Harrison  was  born 
in  1833  at  North  Bend,  ten  miles  west  of  Cincinnati.  Mc- 
Kinley  was  born  in  1843  at  Niles,  fifty  miles  southeast 
of  Cleveland.  Taft  was  born  in  1857  in  Cincinnati. 

Among  other  famous  Ohioans  are  Gen.  Sherman,  born  in 


LOOKING  OUT  OF  PUT-IN-BAY  TOWARD 
THE  SCENE  OF  PERRY'S  VICTORY  ON 
LAKE  ERIE 


Ohio  229 

1820  at  Lancaster,  thirty  miles  southeast  of  Columbus; 
Thomas  A.  Edison,  born  in  1847  at  Milan,  a  dozen  miles  south 
of  Sandusky ;  and  W.  D.  Howells,  born  in  1837,  at  Martins 
Ferry  just  across  the  Ohio  from  the  West  Virginia  city  of 
Wheeling.  Much  of  Mr.  Howells'  boyhood  was  spent  in 
Hamilton,  twenty  miles  north  of  Cincinnati,  and  his  experi 
ences  there  are  embodied  in  his  delightful  "  A  Boy's  Town." 
Another  Ohio  writer  whose  novels  bid  fair  to  have  a  per 
manent  place  in  our  literature  is  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Watts,  born 
in  Delaware  County  in  1868  and  now  a  resident  of  Cincin 
nati. 

Ohio  entirely  lacks  mountains.     Its  highest  point,  1550 
feet,  is  near  Bellefontaine,  fifty  miles  northwest  of  Columbus. 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  THE  TIPPECANOE 


XXIV 

Indiana 

It  is  surmised  that  where  Indiana's  oldest  town,  Vincennes, 
now  stands  beside  the  Wabash  on  the  southwestern  border 
of  the  state  the  ancient  race  of  Mound  Builders  had  their 
capital  city.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  are  several  large 
mounds  and  hundreds  of  smaller  ones.  When  a  few  French 
families  came  thither  and  settled  about  1730  they  found  there 
an  important  Indian  town  called  Chip-kaw-hay,  a  name  soon 
changed  to  Vincennes.  After  the  place  fell  into  English 
hands  along  with  the  other  French  possessions  in  America,  a 
small  stockade  defense  known  as  Fort  Sackville  was  erected 
there.  In  1779  the  pioneer  leader,  George  Rogers  Clark, 
who  had  recently  captured  Kaskaskia  on  the  southwestern 
border  of  Illinois,  set  out  with  one  hundred  and  seventy  men 
to  march  nearly  two  hundred  miles  across  country  against 
Vincennes.  A  few  pack  horses  were  laden  with  what 

230 


Indiana 


231 


provisions  and  ammunition  the  men  could  not  carry  on 
their  backs.  There  was  much  rain  so  that  a  great  deal  of 
the  land  was  overflowed,  and  a  thin  coating  of  ice  formed  on 
the  water  each  morning.  The  men  had  no  tents,  and  some 
nights  were  obliged  to  walk  about  to  keep  from  freezing. 
When  they  came  to  a  river  that  was  too  deep  to  ford  they 
made  rafts  to  use  in  crossing.  On  the  twenty-third  of  the 
month  they  arrived  at  Vincennes  and  opened  fire  on  the 
fort  that  night.  The  next  morning  they  demanded  its 
surrender  coupled  by  a  threat  that  if  it  had  to  be  taken  by 
storm  the  officers  would  be  treated  as  murderers.  After 
some  parleying  the  fort  capitulated. 

The  fact  that  Indianapolis  is  almost  in  the  exact  geo 
graphical  center  of  the  state  makes  its  being  the  capital 
and  largest  city  seem  very  fitting.  It  has  many  important 
industries,  and  is  noteworthy  for  the  number  of  electric 
railways  that  radiate  from  it.  When  first  surveyed  in  1821, 
after  it  had  been  settled  two  years,  it  was  a  wilderness 
village  of  eight  hundred  people.  One  square  mile  was 
plotted  for  the  future  city.  Now  the  inhabitants  number 
over  a  quarter  of  a  million,  and  the  city  area  has  increased 
to  twenty-seven  square  miles.  It  became  the  capital  in 
1824.  Even  then  the 
banks  of  the  White 
River  on  which  it  is 
situated  were  dotted 
with  Indian  villages, 
and  the  red  men 
were  a  constant 
source  of  apprehen 
sion.  For  more  than 
a  dozen  years  after 
ward  the  public 
squares  were  feeding-  LOWER  FALLS  CATAEACT 


232 


What  to  See  in  America 


FIRST  STATE  HOUSE,  1811,  CORYDON 


grounds  for  the 
oxen  and  horses 
which  drew  the 
teams  of  the  coun- 
tryrnen  to  the 
town  market, 
"  stumps  stood  in 
the  streets,  the 
mud  was  only 
navigable  to  a 
man  on  a  tall 

horse,  the  buildings  were  ugly  and  unpainted,  and  the  people 
were  raw  immigrants  dressed  in  butternut  jeans,  and  for 
the  most  part  afflicted  with  the  '  ague '  and  the  '  yellow  jan- 
ders.'"  The  city's  first  railroad  arrived  in  1847,  and  within 
a  few  years  the  place  became  an  important  railroad  center. 
Its  Union  station  is  one  of  the  most  commodious  and  beau 
tiful  in  America. 

About  sixty  miles  northwest  of  Indianapolis,  not  far  from 
the  city  of  Lafayette,  was  fought  the  famous  Battle  of 
Tippecanoe  in  November,  1811.  Several  hundred  Indians 
under  the  leadership  of  Tecumseh  had  gathered  there  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  Wabash  near  where  it  is  joined  by  the 
Tippecanoe.  Gov.  William  Henry  Harrison  with  1000 
troops  defeated 
the  Indians,  who 
fled  in  a  panic 
from  the  region ; 
and  never  again 
did  a  purely  In 
dian  army  com 
bat  the  whites 
east  of  the  Mis 
sissippi.  HANGMANS  BRIDGE  OVER  LOST  RIVER 


Indiana 


233 


On  the  sand-dune  and  scrub-oak  wilderness  of  the  Indiana 
lake  shore  region  is  that  wonderful  youthful  city  of  Gary, 
founded  in  1906.  The  United  States  Steel  Corporation  chose 
this  spot,  twenty-six  miles  from  Chicago,  for  the  site  of  one 
of  the  greatest  steel-pro-  „  , 
ducing  plants  in  the  wrorld ,  p$$i 
because  of  its  proximity 
to  markets  and  its  harbor 
possibilities.  The  city  has 
its  huge  mills,  including 
by-product  coke  ovens, 
and  it  has  amazing  met 
ropolitan  features  of  con 
struction  and  of  architec 
tural  beauty.  Besides,  it 
has  a  school  system  that 
has  won  international 
fame  for  its  originality  in 
developing  the  whole 
child,  physically,  men 
tally,  and  in  manual  dex 
terity. 

Down  in  the  far  south 
western  corner  of  the 
state  a  community  known 
as  the  Harmony  Society 
bought  30,000  acres  of 
land  in  1814,  and  the  next  year  emigrated  thither  from 
Pennsylvania  and  established  the  town  of  Harmony.  Prop 
erty  was  held  in  common.  For  ten  years  the  colonists,  who 
for  a  time  numbered  nearly  eight  hundred,  cleared  the 
land,  planted  vineyards,  and  manufactured  woolen  and 
cotton  goods,  and  shoes.  Then  they  sold  their  property  to 
Robert  Owen,  a  Scotch  manufacturer  and  social  reformer, 


Photo  by  Franklin  Booth. 
CREEKSIDE  WOODLAND 


234 


What  to  See  in  America 


and  returned  to  Pennsylvania.  Owen  attempted  to  organize 
an  ideal  socialist  community,  and  by  the  end  of  1825  about 
1000  people  had  established  themselves  at  New  Harmony,  as 
they  called  their  town.  But  the  details  of  community  life 
proved  irksome  to  many,  and  there  was  a  rapid  disintegration. 
A  considerable  number  of  the  old  communistic  buildings  still 

stand,  and  the  place  has 
an  attractive  air  of  an 
tiquity  and  peace. 

In  southern  Indiana, 
eight  miles  from  Mill- 
town,  is  the  extensive 
Wyandotte  Cave,  which 
has  a  good  deal  of  beauty 
in  its  adorning  of  stalac 
tites  and  stalagmites. 

The  highest  point  in  the 
state  is  on  its  central  east 
ern  border  at  Carlos,  1210 
feet.  Indiana  is  called  the 
"Hoosier  State,"  and  the 
people  "Hoosiers,"  but 
the  significance  of  the 
nickname  is  uncertain. 
One  distinguished  Hoosier 
was  Lew  Wallace,  a  gen 
eral  in  the  Civil  War,  and  author  of  "Ben  Hur."  He  was 
born  at  Brookville,  seventy  miles  southeast  of  Indianapolis, 
in  1827.  Edward  Eggleston,  whose  "The  Hoosier  School 
master"  and  other  novels  dealing  with  Indiana  life  are  still 
read,  was  born  in  1837  at  Vevay  on  the  Ohio  River  in  the 
southeastern  corner  of  the  state.  James  Whitcomb  Riley 
was  born  in  1849  at  Greenfield,  twenty  miles  east  of  the 
capital.  The  realism,  humor,  and  philosophy  of  his  verse 


COMING  FROM  THE  SPRING-HOUSE 


Indiana  235 

have  made  him  the  poet  laureate  of  Indiana  and  beloved 
the  country  over.  His  home  was  in  Indianapolis  in  later 
life  and  he  died  there  in  1916.  That  prince  of  contem 
porary  humorists,  George  Ade,  was  born  in  1866  at  Kent- 
land,  about  forty  miles  northwest  of  Lafayette.  A  little  to 
the  south  of  Lafayette  was  born,  in  1870,  near  South  Raub, 
John  T.  McCutcheon,  one  of  the  most  famous  of  our  news 
paper  caricaturists. 


©.Detroit  Pub.  Co. 
THE  ROOSEVELT  PASSING  THROUGH  STATE  STREET  BRIDGE 

XXV 

Illinois 

On  the  south  side  of  the  Illinois  River,  seven  miles  below 
the  city  of  Ottawa,  is  an  immense  cliff  peculiarly  conspic 
uous  for  its  isolation  and  the  inaccessibility  of  its  summit. 
It  rises  to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet 
directly  from  the  river's  border,  as  abrupt  on  three  sides  as 
a  castle  wall.  The  only  way  to  climb  it  is  by  a  steep  narrow 
path  in  the  rear.  The  circuit  of  its  level  top  measures  about 
six  hundred  feet.  There  La  Salle  began  the  erection  of  Fort 
St.  Louis  in  November,  1682,  immediately  after  his  return 
from  discovering  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  Scarcely 
was  the  wilderness  fort  completed  when  the  Indians  flocked 
to  the  vicinity  to  dwell  in  supposed  safety  protected  by  the 
French  flag ;  and  the  occupants  of  the  rock  looked  down  on 
a  multitude  of  black  tepees  scattered  far  along  the  opposite 

236 


Illinois  237 

bank  of  the  river.  One  spring  the  French  were  obliged  to 
defend  the  rock  against  a  sudden  attack  of  invading  Iroquois, 
but  after  six  days,  during  which  several  desperate  attempts 
were  made  to  storm  the  defenses,  the  savages  retired.  In 
1702  the  fort  was  abandoned  by  the  military  authorities. 
The  great  chief,  Pontiac,  was  killed  in  1769  by  a  treacherous 
Indian  of  the  Illinois  tribe  at  Cahokia,  which  is  a  little 
south  of  East  St.  Louis.  Those  nations  which  were  loyal 
to  Pontiac  at  once  went  on  the  warpath  to  avenge  his  death. 
They  almost  annihilated  the  Illinois.  One  band  of  fugitives 
took  refuge  on  the  high  rock  where  the  French  fort  had  been, 
and  there  kept  their  enemies  at  bay.  But  their  provisions 
soon  failed,  and  their  supply  of  water  was  stopped  by  the 
besiegers  cutting  the  cords  attached  to  the  vessels  they  used 
to  draw  it  up  from  the  river  below.  They  all  died  of  hunger 
and  thirst,  and  many  years  afterward  their  bones  were  seen 
whitening  on  the  height,  to  which  their  tragic  fate  has  given 
the  name  Starved  Rock.  This  rock  is  now  in  a  state  park. 
The  oldest  permanent  settlement,  not  only  in  Illinois, 
but  in  the  entire  Mississippi  Valley,  was  Kaskaskia,  some 
six  miles  above  where  the  river  bearing  that  name  joins 
the  Mississippi.  It  was  first  an  Indian  village,  then  a  mission 
station,  but  slowly  gathered  to  it  a  vagrant  white  population. 
The  French  estab 
lished  themselves  ^ 
there  in  1700.  At 
the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution  all  the 
region  was  under 
British  control,  and 
in  1778  a  colonial 
force  came  thither 
from  Kentucky  led 

by    George    Rogers  STARVED  ROCK  ON  THE  ILLINOIS  RIVER 


238  What  to  See  in  America 

Clark,  a  restless  rover  of  the  woods,  who  at  that  time  was 
only  twenty-six  years  old.  A  surprise  attack  at  night  put 
Kaskaskia  in  his  possession  in  fifteen  minutes  without  firing 
a  gun. 

The  honor  of  being  the  first  American  settlement  in  Illinois 
lies  undecided  between  New  Design  and  J3ellefontaine, 
neighboring  towns  south  of  East  St.  Louis  in  Monroe  County, 
and  both  settled  about  1782.  Up  to  the  close  of  the  Black 
Hawk  War,  Illinois  was  the  far  frontier,  and  as  late  as  1840 
several  of  its  counties  were  without  a  single  settler.  It  was 
about  1829  that  the  celebrated  Black  Hawk,  then  sixty  years 
of  age,  endeavored  to  rally  all  the  Western  Indians  into  a 
confederation  to  resist  farther  encroachments  of  the  whites, 
but  he  only  succeeded  in  persuading  the  young  and  restless 
of  two  tribes,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  With  these  followers  he 
made  his  headquarters  on  the  north  side  of  Rock  River  about 
a  mile  from  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi,  on  a  high 
bluff  since  known  as  Black  Hawk's  Watch  Tower.  The 
situation  became  so  threatening  that  troops  were  called  out, 
and  when,  in  May,  1832,  Black  Hawk  withdrew  up  the  river 
they  followed  him.  At  a  spot  twenty-five  miles  beyond 
Dixon  they  were  disastrously  defeated,  and  they  retreated 
in  a  panic.  Then  the  Indians  swarmed  down  on  the  ex 
posed  settlements  and 
wrought  sad  havoc  clear 
to  the  Illinois  River. 
On  June  24  Black  Hawk 
made  a  violent  attack 
on  a  log  stockade  with 
strong  blockhouses  at 
the  corners,  known  as 
Apple  River  Fort,  in 
the  northwest  corner  of 
THE  OHIO  AT  CAIRO  the  state,  fourteen  miles 


Illinois 


239 


east  of  Galena.  The 
women  and  children 
helped  the  twenty -five 
men  in  the  fort  by 
molding  bullets  and 
loading  guns,  and  at 
the  end  of  fifteen  hours 
the  besiegers  with 
drew.  Later  in  the 
year  the  Indians  re 
treated  across  the  Wis 
consin  line. 

Illinois  had  its  first 
seat  of  government  at 
Kaskaskia,  but  when 
it  became  a  state  in 
1818  commissioners 
selected  as  the  site  for 
its  capital  a  bluff  in 
the  wilderness  beside 
the  Kaskaskia  River, 

sixty  miles  east  of  Alton.  They  called  it  Vandalia,  and  laid 
it  out  with  broad  streets,  and  a  handsome  square  whereon 
was  erected  a  two-story  frame  State  House.  One  small 
wagon  served  to  transport  at  a  single  load  the  entire  state 
archives  from  Kaskaskia.  Agitation  for  another  removal  of 
the  capital  at  length  developed,  and  in  1837  the  legislature 
selected  Springfield  from  twenty-nine  places  that  aspired 
for  the  distinction.  Springfield's  settlement  dates  back  to 
1819,  when  a  single  family  from  North  Carolina  made  its 
home  there  beside  Spring  Creek.  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
long  a  resident  of  the  place,  and  here  are  the  office  in  which 
he  practiced  law  and  the  house  he  occupied  when  elected 
President.  His  remains  rest  beneath  a  magnificent  inonu- 


BLUFFS  OF  ROCK  RIVER 


240 


What  to  See  in  America 


ment  in  the  beautiful  Oak  Ridge  Cemetery.  On  the  north 
side  of  the  city  are  the  State  Fair  Grounds,  the  most  ex 
tensive  of  their  kind  in  the  United  States.  The  annual  fair, 
which  continues  the  first  ten  days  of  October,  attracts 

crowds  from  the  entire  middle 
West.  Roundabout  the  cap 
ital  are  rich  coal  mines. 

For  a  period  of  twenty-five 
years  after  1813  the  most  im 
portant  social  and  political 
center  in  Illinois,  and  the 
chosen  home  of  wealth  and 
refinement,  was  Shawneetown 
on  the  Ohio  River,  a  few 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Wabash.  Now  it  is  a  quaint 
old  village  brooding  over  its 
past  glories. 

Cairo  is  worthy  of  a  visit 
because  it  is  at  the  meeting 
of  the  two  great  rivers,  the 
Ohio  and  the  Mississippi.  Its 

founders  anticipated  its  becoming  the  biggest  city  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  but  the  location  was  unhealthful  and 
subject  to  floods.  Since  1858,  when  it  was  nearly  destroyed 
by  an  inundation,  it  has  been  protected  by  extensive  levees. 
Charles  Dickens  aroused  its  wrath  by  his  comments  on  the 
place  in  his  "American  Notes,"  and  by  his  "Martin  Chuzzle- 
wit,"  the  whole  plot  of  which  hinges  on  real  estate  specu 
lations  at  "Eden,"  as  Cairo  was  called  in  the  novel. 

Somewhat  north  of  East  St.  Louis  on  the  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  is  the  busy  industrial  city  of  Alton,  historically 
interesting  as  the  place  where,  in  1837,  attempts  to  establish 
an  antislavery  paper  resulted  in  riots  and  in  the  martyrdom 


A  MORMON  DOORWAY  IN  NATTVOO 


Illinois  241 

of  the  editor,  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy.  A  little  farther  up  the 
river,  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  are  those  strange 
rocks,  fashioned  into  oddly  sculptured  forms  by  waves  and 
weather,  marked  on  ancient  French  maps  as  the  "Painted 
Rocks."  When  Marquette  and  his  companions  journeyed 
down  the  great  river  in  their  canoes  in  167)3,  they  saw  on  the 
flat  front  of  one  of  these  high  bluffs,  painted  in  red,  black, 
and  green,  a  pair  of  hideous  monsters  such  as  could  only  be 
conceived  in  the  brain  of  savages. 

About  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  on  the  river  is 
Nauvoo,  whither  came  in  search  of  peace  15,000  Mormon 
Saints,   in   1838,   from  farther  east  where  they  had  been 
ridiculed    and    persecuted.     They    found     here    the    little 
village  of  Commerce,  the  name  of  which  they  changed  to 
Nauvoo,  which  means  the  "City  of  Beauty."     The  place 
was  not  long  in  becoming  the  largest  and  most  promising 
in  the  state ;    but  in  less  than  ten  years  it  was  well-nigh 
deserted,  much  of  the  Mormons'  property  had  been  confis 
cated,  and  their  prophet,  Joseph  Smith,  and  others  had  been 
slain.     The   place   has   stagnated   ever   since,    and   yet   its 
commanding  plateau    ,_.... 
overlooking  the  river    ! 
is  very  attractive. 
The   great   Mormon 
temple  which   stood 
at   the   crest  of  the 
rise   is   gone.,  but 
many  of  the  village 
streets  are   as   thev 

AN  INDIAN  MOUND  NEAR  CAHOKIA 

were,   and    you   can 

trace  the  orderly  plan  of  the  vanished  metropolis  in  the 
grass-grown  thoroughfares.  On  the  high  river  bank  at  the 
south  end  of  Main  Street  is  the  home  of  the  prophet,  a 
clapboarded  unpainted  farmhouse  of  moderate  size,  and  on 


242 


What  to  See  in  America 


OTTAWA  INDIANS 


another  street  is  the  substantial  brick 
dwelling  of  Brigham  Young. 

After  the  Mormons  departed,  a 
considerable  number  of  communists 
from  France  settled  at  Nauvoo. 
Their  leader  was  a  great  French 
lawyer,  writer,  and  politician  named 
Cabet,  who  wrote  a  novel  called  "A 
Voyage  in  Icarie,"  describing  an 
ideal  nation.  This  produced  such  an 
impression  that  soon  nearly  half 
a  million  persons  signed  themselves 
his  followers.  For  a  while  the  Illi 
nois  Icarians  flourished.  Mills  were 
erected,  workshops  were  equipped, 

their  farms  were  well  tilled,  their  school  was  one  of  the  best 
in  the  state,  they  had  an  excellent  library  and  an  admirable 
orchestra,  and  they  published  a  weekly  magazine  which  won 
a  wide  circulation ;  but  dissension  developed,  and  Icaria 
disintegrated,  though  colonies  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
kept  the  movement  alive  till  1895. 

In  the  most  northwestern  county  of  the  state,  at  Charles 
Mound,  is  the  highest  spot  in  Illinois,  1241  feet  above  sea 
level.  Illinois  is  called  the  "Prairie  State."  The  greater 
part  of  it  was  prairie  land  originally,  often  in  vast  un 
interrupted  expanses,  but  sometimes  broken  by  occasional 
belts  of  timber  and  groves  of  oak.  The  Mound  Builders 
have  left  many  of  their  earthworks  in  the  state,  and  among 
these  are  the  largest  in  America,  near  East  St.  Louis.  Espe 
cially  worth  seeing  is  the  Cahokia  Mound,  ninety  feet  high, 
and  there  are  fifty  others  of  enormous  size  in  the  vicinity. 
Relics  of  the  race  abound  all  the  way  up  the  Illinois  River  to 
Peoria,  and  also  along  the  beautiful  Rock  River  Valley. 
Some  of  those  in  the  latter  region  are  evidently  intended  to 


Illinois 


243 


represent  figures  of  men,  birds,  quadrupeds,  and  reptiles. 
In  the  city  of  Rockford  is  the  famous  Turtle  Mound,  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  feet  long  and  fifty  feet  wide. 

Chicago,  with  its  water  front  of  twenty-six  miles  on  Lake 
Michigan,  is  the  nation's  second  largest  city,  and  the  greatest 
railway  center  in  the  world.  Its  growth  has  been  phenom 
enal.  In  1673  French  explorers  visited  the  narrow  sluggish 
Chicago  River  that  divides  the  city,  and  the  early  trappers 
and  traders  passed  back  and  forth  here  because  they  had  to 
carry  their  canoes  only  a  short  distance  to  get  from  waters 
tributary  to  Lake  Michigan  into  those  flowing  to  the  Missis 
sippi.  Sometimes,  when  the  streams  were  in  flood,  they 
could  paddle  straight  through.  In  ancient  times  the 
Great  Lakes  sent  their  overflow  by  way  of  the  Illinois  and 
Mississippi  rivers  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  No  per 
manent  settlement  was 
made  where  the  city  was 
to  be  until  the  govern 
ment  established  Fort 
Dearborn  in  1804.  In 
August,  1812,  great  num 
bers  of  Indians  gathered 
menacingly  near  the  fort, 
which  at  that  time  con 
tained  a  garrison  of  fifty- 
eight  men,  and  their 
families  to  the  extent 
of  twelve  women  and 
twenty  children.  Settlers 
who  had  built  five  cab 
ins  in  the  vicinity  came 
into  the  fort,  and  on  the 
fourteenth  of  the  month  MASONIC  TEMPLE,  CHICAGO 


244 


What  to  See  in  America 


A  TOWER,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


Capt.  Wells  with  a  party  of  thirty  Miami  warriors  reen- 
forced  the  garrison.  The  Indians  promised  protection  if 
the  inmates  of  the  fort  would 
desert  it  and  give  'them  the 
stores  and  ammunition.  On 
the  following  morning,  there 
fore,  the  people  all  left  the 
fort  to  go  to  Detroit,  and  be 
gan  traveling  along  the  sandy 
beach  with  their  wagons ;  but 
when  they  got  to  what  is  now 
the  foot  of  18th  Street  they 
were  attacked  by  half  a  thou 
sand  Indians  who  had  been 
escorting  them.  The  friendly  Miamis  soon  fled,  and  the 
whites  were  overwhelmed.  Forty  were  taken  prisoners  and 
the  rest,  including  two  women  and  twelve  children,  were 
massacred.  The  fort  was  rebuilt  two  years  later,  and  soon 
became  the  center  of  the  fur  trade  in  that  part  of  the  country. 
In  1830  a  merchant  who  arrived  on  a  schooner  with  a  small 
stock  of  goods  built  near  the  fort  a  log  store,  "which  made 
an  important  addition  to  the  trade  of  Chicago."  The 
next  year  the  place  had  one  hundred  inhabitants,  but  after 
that  its  growth  was  rapid,  and  within  a  short  time  one  of  its 

citizens  in  a  wildly 
optimistic  mood  pre 
dicted  that  it  would 
some  day  become  a 
city  of  10,000  people  ! 
For  many  years  the 
quagmire  condition 
of  the  streets,  and 
the  frequent  inunda- 

IN  WASHINGTON  PAKK  tions    from    lake    and 


Illinois  245 

river,  caused  Chicago  to  be  derisively  termed  the  "Amphibi 
ous  Town."  By  filling  in  the  land  the  city  long  since  lifted 
itself  out  of  the  mud,  and  now  the  level  of  the  streets  is 
eight  feet  above  the  original  marsh.  In  1843  an  ordinance 
was  enacted  declaring  that  hogs  should  no  longer  be  per 
mitted  to  run  at  large  in  the  streets.  The  first  steamboat 
to  reach  the  city  arrived  in  1832.  Chicago's  earliest  railroad 
connected  it  with  Galena,  nearly  two  hundred  miles  west. 
Ten  miles  had  been  completed  in  October,  1848,  when  the 
first  train  made  a  trip. 

The  city  was  the  scene  of  a  terrible  conflagration  in 
October,  1871,  which  swept  over  three  and  one  half  square 
miles  and  destroyed  17,500  buildings  with  a  value  of  nearly 
$200,000,000.  About  two  hundred  people  perished  in  the 
flames,  and  100,000  were  left  homeless.  The  fire  found  the 
city  of  wood,  but  the  new  city  was  of  brick  and  stone. 

Chicago  is  primarily  a  great  market,  the  natural  dis 
tributing  point  of  the  continent,  and  the  center  of  the  coun 
try's  sources  of  demand  and  supply.  It  occupies  a  strategic 
position  in  the  movement  of  commerce  both  by  wrater  and 
by  rail.  All  the  grazing  states  of  the  West  ship  stock  to 
Chicago,  and  nearly  a  square  mile  in  the  city  is  taken  up  by 
the  Union  Stockyards,  to  which  come  every  year  some 
8,000,000  hogs,  and  4,000,000  cattle,  and  4,000,000  sheep. 
From  here  are  sent  away  meat  supplies  that  go  all  over  the 
world.  So  cosmopolitan  are  its  citizens  that  each  of  fourteen 
languages  besides  English  is  spoken  by  more  than  10,000 
people. 

The  city  has  a  remarkable  system  of  small  parks  and  boule 
vards,  some  wonderful  residence  streets,  and  excellent  bathing 
beaches.  Pleasure  steamers  ply  on  the  lake,  and  so  many 
recreations  are  easily  available  that  it  has  a  good  deal  of 
charm  as  a  summer  resort. 

The  name  of  the  city  is  of  Indian  origin.     It  means  "  Wild 


246  What  to  See  in  America 

Onion."  Chicago  has  acquired  the  nickname  of  the  "Windy 
City." 

Thirteen  miles  north  is  Evanston,  where  are  some  of 
the  finest  suburban  homes  in  America,  and  at  forty-six  miles 
is  Zion  City,  famous  as  the  place  built  up  by  the  singular 
religious  society  founded  by  John  A.  Dowie. 

The  people  of  the  state  are  popularly  called  "Suckers," 
a  name  first  conferred  on  the  early  Illinois  miners  who  used 
to  come  down  from  "up  river"  each  year  at  the  time  the 
suckers  in  the  streams  migrated. 


MACKINAC  AND  ITS  ANCIENT  FORT 


XXVI 

Michigan 

In  the  narrow  sixty-three-mile  long  river  connecting  lakes 
Superior  and  Huron  is  a  half  mile  where  the  water  runs  in 
swift  violence  over  a  ledge  of  rocks,  forming  the  Sault 
Sainte  Marie,  or,  to  put  it  in  English,  the  Rapids  of  St. 
Mary.  The  adjacent  banks  were  a  gathering  place  for  the 
Indians  from  time  immemorial.  Here  they  fished  in  the 
rapids  and  portaged  their  canoes  along  the  shores.  It  was 
here,  in  1668,  that  Father  Marquette  founded  a  mission, 
which  was  Michigan's  first  settlement.  The  great  attraction 
for  the  traveler  who  visits  the  "Soo"  is  the  locks.  The 
falls  were  a  barrier  to  the  birch-bark  canoes  of  the  savages, 
and  likewise  to  the  bateaux,  sailing  vessels,  and  steamboats 
of  the  whites,  which  could  move  freely  on  all  the  lakes  below 
as  far  as  Niagara.  Many  wise  Americans  considered  the 
project  of  building  the  first  ship  canal  and  locks  at  the  "Soo" 

247 


248 


What  to  See  in  America 


VESSELS  PASSING  THROUGH  THE  "Soo"  CANAL 
AT  NIGHT 


both  extravagant 
and  visionary, 
but  in  1855  the 
canal  was  com 
pleted  with  a  lock 
three  hundred 
and  fifty  feet 
long,  which  every 
one  agreed  would 
provide  amply 
for  any  vessels 
that  would  ever 
navigate  those 
waters.  Fifteen 
years  later  the  lock  was  enlarged,  and  again  in  1896,  when 
one  eight  hundred  feet  long  was  built,  which  was  the  biggest 
and  costliest  in  the  world.  Even  this  proved  inadequate. 
The  present  lock  is  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
long  and  eighty  feet  wide.  For  six  months  of  the  year  an 
average  of  a  big  steamer  every  fifteen  minutes  of  the  day 
and  night  passes  through,  and  their  annual  tonnage  is  three 
times  as  great  as  that  passing  through  the  Suez  Canal.  One 
of  the  things  to  do  at  the  "Soo"  is  to  shoot  the  Rapids  in  a 
canoe  guided  by  an  Indian.  It  is  an  exciting,  but  reasonably 
safe,  experience.  There  is  good  trout  fishing  above  the 
Rapids  and  in  the  neighboring  streams.  The  adjacent  region 
is  largely  peopled  with  Indians  and  half-breeds,  who  cling 
to  their  tribal  customs.  They  come  to  the  "Soo"  during 
the  summer  with  dogs  hitched  to  little  wagons,  or  paddle 
thither  in  canoes  laden  with  willow  ware  and  other  souvenirs 
for  sale. 

Of  all  the  Great  Lakes  resorts  the  Straits  of  Mackinac 
have  the  finest  combination  of  scenic,  historic,  and  climatic 
attraction.  Mackinac  Island,  with  its  tiny  harbor,  quaint 


Michigan  249 

village,  and  old  fort,  and  its  castellated  rocks  that  front  the 
water,  is  a  gem.  It  is  about  three  and  one  half  miles  long 
and  two  broad.  Its  name  was  formerly  spelled  Michili- 
mackinac,  which  is  an  Indian  term  meaning  Great  Turtle. 
This  refers  to  the  island's  fancied  resemblance  to  that  animal, 
as  seen  from  a  distance.  Fishing  and  sailing  can  be  had 
in  the  vicinity  at  their  best.  Marquette  wintered  on  the 
island  in  1670,  and  settlements  were  soon  established  here 
and  at  St.  Ignace,  north  of  the  Straits,  and  Mackinaw,  south 
of  the  Straits.  In  the  spring  of  1675,  while  returning  to  this 
vicinity  with  two  companions  in  a  canoe  along  the  east 
coast  of  Lake  Michigan,  Marquette  died  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
eight,  and  was  buried  beside  an  obscure  creek  a  short  distance 
south  of  Luddington  and  of  the  promontory  called  the 
Sleeping  Bear.  One  year  later  a  party  of  Ottawas  opened  the 
grave,  washed  and  dried  the  bones,  and  placed  them  in  a 
box  of  birch  bark.  Then,  in  a  procession  of  thirty  canoes, 
singing  their  funeral  songs,  they  paddled  to  St.  Ignace, 
where  the  relics  of  the  beloved  missionary,  who  had  "  bright 
hair  like  the  sun,"  were  buried  beneath  the  floor  of  the  little 
chapel  of  the  mission. 

At  Mackinaw  City,  in  1763,  occurred  one  of  the  most  dismal 
of  Indian  massacres,  which  is  fascinatingly  described  in 
Parkman's  "The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac."  The  British 
captured  Mackinac  Island 
at  the  outbreak  of  the 
War  of  1812,  and  the 
Americans  made  an  un 
successful  attempt  to 
recover  it  in  1814.  It 
finally  passed  into  the 
keeping  of  the  United 
States  the  next  year,  and 
then  followed  the  great  ARCH  ROCK,  MACKINAC 


250 


What  to  See  in  America 


A  LAKE  FREIGHTER  PASSING  DETROIT 


days  when  this  was  the  chief  center  of  trade  and  activity  for 
John  Jacob  Astor's  American  Fur  Company. 

The  story  of  "Hiawatha,"  which  is  a  romance  of  the 
Ojibways,  is  given  each  year  by  these  Indians  near  Petoskey 
on  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  about  forty  miles  south  of 

the  Straits.   The 
play  is  rendered 
with  great   skill 
and     charm    on 
every  pleasant 
day  through  the 
month  of  August. 
Lake     Huron, 
east    of    the 
Straits,  is  the 
most  irregular  of 
the  Great  Lakes, 
and  among  its  attractions  are  no  less  than  three  thousand 
islands. 

Michigan's  chief  city,  and  the  oldest  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  state,  is  Detroit,  founded  by  the  French  in  1701.  It 
fell  into  British  hands  in  1763  along  with  the  rest  of  the 
territory  occupied  by  France  in  North  America.  Later 
that  same  year  it  was  besieged  by  the  celebrated  chief  Pon- 
tiac,  who,  in  ten  weeks'  time,  captured  every  British  post 
west  of  Niagara  except  this.  After  the  siege  had  lasted 
about  three  months  reinforcements  reached  the  fort,  and  the 
defenders  sallied  forth  to  make  a  surprise  attack  on  the 
Indians.  But  they  were  themselves  ambushed  as  they  were 
crossing  a  bridge  that  spanned  a  little  stream  a  mile  and  a 
half  north  of  the  fort.  They  were  defeated  with  heavy 
loss,  and  the  stream  has  been  called  Bloody  Run  ever  since. 
Two  months  afterward  Pontiac  abandoned  the  siege.  Pres 
ently  the  Indians'  relations  with  the  British  became  friendly, 


Michigan 


251 


and  during  the  Revolution  they  sallied  forth  from  there  on 
their  forays  and  returned  with  many  prisoners  and  scalps. 
In  1805  a  fire  ravaged  Detroit  and  left  nothing  except 
one  house,  a  few  stone  chimneys,  and  several  old  pear 
trees.  The  city  is  eighteen  miles  from  Lake  Erie,  on  the 
bank  of  the  Detroit  River,  which  connects  it  with  the  small 
Lake  St.  Clair^  and  so  with  Lake  Huron.  Here  the  shipping 
of  the  lakes  passing  up  and  down  the  narrow  waterway 
can  be  seen  to  exceptional  advantage.  Among  the  other 
craft,  you  may  see  one  of  the  aristocrats  of  the  lake  fleet  —  a 
passenger  steamer,  resembling  in  style  and  size  the  ocean 
liners.  Of  the  freighters,  the  type  of  vessel  that  has  the  most 
curious  individuality  is  the  whaleback,  a  blunt-ended  hulk 
with  rounded  gunwales.  Its  appearance  and  its  manner 


STEAMERS  PUSHING  THROUGH  ICE  ON  WHITEFISH  BAY 

of  rooting  and  rolling  about  in  the  waves  have  gained  it  the 
nickname  of  the  "pig."  Detroit  is  the  most  important  auto 
mobile  manufacturing  center  in  the  world. 

To  the  north  lies  the  beautiful  Lake  District  of  Oakland 
County.  Seven  miles  from  the  city  in  that  direction  is  the 
curious  Grotto  of  the  Virgin,  erected  "in  memory  of  the 


252 


What  to  See  in  America 


apparition  at  Lourdes  " ;  and  fifteen  miles  farther  on  is  Mt. 
Clemens,  a  summer  resort  famed  for  its  mineral  springs. 
Thirty-eight  miles  west  of  Detroit  is  Ann  Arbor,  the  home 
of  the  richly  endowed  University  of  Michigan,  with  five 
££r  <i  thousand  students,  one 

fifth  of  whom  are  women. 
Detroit  was  the  capital 
of  the  state  until  the  seat 
of  government  was  moved 
to  Lansing  in  1838. 

Lake  Superior  forms 
most  of  Michigan's  north 
ern  boundary.  It  is  the 
greatest  body  of  fresh 
water  on  the  globe,  and 
has  an  average  depth  of 
nine  hundred  feet,  while 
Erie,  the  shallowest  of 
the  lakes,  averages  only 
eighty-four  feet.  The 
coast  line  is  very  irregu 
lar  and  has  a  length  of 
1500  miles.  It  is  gener 
ally  rock-bound,  and  its 
shores  excel  in  picturesqueness.  Its  size  and  depth  and 
northerly  situation  combine  to  keep  its  waters  very  cold 
even  in  midsummer,  and  this,  with  the  clearness  of  the 
water,  gives  the  fish  unusually  fine  quality.  The  Pictured 
Rocks  on  the  south  shore  have  such  repute  that  passenger 
steamers  approach  as  near  as  possible  to  afford  a  view  of 
them.  But  the  best  way  to  see  this  fantastic  and  romantic 
five-mile  stretch  of  sandstone  bluffs  with  its  staining  of  color 
and  its  cascades  is  to  go  there  from  Munising  in  a  motor 
boat.  Sail  Rock,  which  resembles  a  sloop  in  full  sail,  the 


LOOKING  ACROSS  PORTAGE  LAKE  TO  THE 
"COPPER  PENINSULA" 


Michigan 


253 


Grand  Portal,  and  the  Chapel  are  perhaps  the  most  strik 
ing  features  of  the  series  of  cliffs.  This  vicinity  is  in  the 
heart  of  the  Hiawatha  country,  and  Munising  occupies  the 
site  of  the  wigwam  of  Xokomis. 

The  State  makes  one  long  upthrust  into  the  lake,  and 
right  across  the  base  of  the  peninsula  is  a  rift  that  for  most 
of  its  length  is  filled  by  the  narrow,  deep  Portage  Lake. 
A  channel  has  been  dredged  the  rest  of  the  way  to  allow 
vessels  to  pass  freely.  A  few  miles  back  on  the  hills  northerly 
is  the  great  Calumet  and  Hecla  copper  mine,  which  was  dis 
covered  in  1865  by  a  man  who  went  into  a  hole,  left  by  the 
roots  of  a  big  overturned  pine  tree,  to  get  a  litter  of  pigs  that 


was  there.     The 

product    of    the 

Calumet    and 

Hecla   group    of 

shafts   has   paid 

more     dividends 

than  that  of  any 

other    mining 

corporation  in 

the  world.     The 

Red  Jacket  Shaft 

is  equipped  with 

engines  that  hoist 

ten-ton    cars    of 

ore  from  a  depth  of  a  straight  mile  in  a  minute  and  a  half. 

This  shaft  pierces  the  earth's  crust  farther  below  the  ocean 

than  any  other  hole  in  existence. 

A  little  to  the  west  of  the  base  of  the  peninsula  are  the 
Porcupine  Mountains,  the  highest  in  the  state,  with  an 
elevation  of  2023  feet.  Michigan  is  an  Indian  word  which 
means  Great  Lake.  The  people  have  the  nickname  of  "  Wol 
verines,"  and  Michigan  itself  is  called  the  "Wolverine  State." 


LOAD  OF  WHITE  PINE  Loos 


* 


BESIDE  THE  MISSISSIPPI 

XXVII 

Wisconsin 

Wisconsin,  as  a  whole,  is  famous  as  a  summer  resort.  It  has 
been  called  the  "Playground  of  the  Middle  West."  Its 
name  is  of  Indian  derivation  and  means  "Wild  Rushing 
Channel,"  which  indicates  the  character  of  many  of  its 
streams.  The  surface  consists  chiefly  of  a  great  plain 
without  mountains,  but  abounding  in  hills.  The  highest 
point  in  the  state  is  Rib  Hill,  near  Wausau,  with  an  altitude 
of  1940  feet.  Much  of  the  southern  part  of  Wisconsin  was 
originally  prairie  that  had  here  and  there  patches  of  timber 
commonly  called  "oak  openings,"  the  trees  being  nearly  all 
bur  oaks. 

The  Mound  Builders  were  ancient  inhabitants  of  the 
state,  and  they  have  left  a  variety  of  their  strange  earth 
works  in  the  east  and  south  sections  to  arouse  the  wonder 
and  curiosity  of  the  people  of  the  present.  Many  of  these 

254 


Wisconsin 


255 


WHITE  WATER  FALLS  BELOW  THE  HORSE  RACE 


earthworks  are 
"effigy  mounds" 
that  have  the 
form  of  animals, 
usually  in  groups 
and  of  gigantic 
size.  Among  the 
animals  repre 
sented  are  buf 
falo,  moose,  deer, 
fox,  wolf,  pan 
ther,  and  eagle. 
Some  panthers 

have  tails  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  and  there  are 
eagles  which  measure  one  thousand  feet  from  tip  to  tip  of 
their  outspread  wings.  Such  mounds  were  probably  objects 
of  worship  as  guardians  of  the  villages. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  in  the  state  was  begun  by 
a  Canadian  family  at  Green  Bay  in  1750.     The  body   of 
water  from  which  the  town  takes  its  name  is  a  wide  inreach 
from  Lake  Michigan.     La  Salle  visited  the  bay  in   1679 
with  his  little  fifty-ton  Griffon,  the  first  vessel  that  ever 
sailed  on  the  Great  Lakes.     He  collected  a  cargo  of  furs, 
and  the  Griffon  was 
dispatched     with 
them  to    Niagara. 
She  was  never  heard 
of  again.     La   Salle 
and  such  compan 
ions  as  remained 
with    him    voyaged 
southward     in    four 
canoes,  exploring  the 
Wisconsin     shore.  STATE  HOUSE  AT  MADISON 


256 


What  to  See  in  America 


Storms  delayed  them,  and  they  spent  wretched  days  and 
nights  among  the  rocks  and  bushes,  crouched  around  drift 
wood  fires  with  only  their  blankets  to  shelter  them  from 
rain  and  snow.  Food  was  scarce,  and  they  often  paddled 
from  morning  till  night  with  nothing  to  eat  but  a  handful 
of  Indian  corn,  and  some  hawthorn  berries  which  they 
picked  on  the  shore.  Famine  stared  them  in  the  face  until 
one  day,  as  they  looked  landward  from  their  canoes,  when 
they  had  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  present  Milwaukee, 
they  saw  numerous  crows  and  eagles  hovering  above  some 
thing  that  proved  to  be  a  deer  killed  by  a  wolf.  This 
tided  them  over  the  worst  of  their  stress. 

The  fur  trade  long  remained  the  principal  business  of  the 
inhabitants,  of  whom  there  were  only  12,000  whites  in  1836, 
when  Wisconsin  was  set  off  as  a  territory.  The  site  for  the 
capital  of  the  infant  territory  was  selected  from  seventeen 
rivals  for  the  honor,  some  of  them  actual  settlements,  but 
others  "  paper  towns"  that  existed  only  on  the  maps  made  by 
real  estate  speculators.  One  of  the  latter,  Madison,  was  the 

winner,  and  a  surveyor 
sent  to  set  the  stakes  for 
the  State  House  arrived 
in  a  blinding  February 
snowstorm.  The  only 
man  he  found  there  was 
a  French  half-breed,  who 
had  put  up  a  temporary 
trading  shanty,  half  brush 
and  half  canvas.  The 
place  had  only  one  hun 
dred  and  seventy-two  in 
habitants  half  a  dozen 
years  later,  and  Indian 
TEMPLE  GATE,  APOSTLE  ISLANDS  wigwams  were  frequently 


Wisconsin 


257 


set  up  within  sight  of  the 
doors  of  the  Capitol.  Per 
haps  no  city  in  the  state 
better  repays  a  visit  than 
the  present  Madison. 
The  picturesqueness  of  its 
location  could  hardly  be 
excelled,  for  it  is  built 
between  two  lakes  which 
are  not  only  within  the 
city  limits,  but  are  very 
close  to  the  business 
center. 

The  famous  chief, 
Black  Hawk,  during  his 
war  with  the  whites,  re 
treated  from  Illinois  in 
1832  across  the  Wisconsin 
line  to  the  headwaters  of 
the  Rock  River  near  Lake 
Koshkonong.  A  force  of 
whites  began  operations  against  him  in  late  June,  and  the 
Indians  withdrew,  but  were  overtaken  and  decisively  de 
feated  in  the  Battle  of  Wisconsin  Heights  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Wisconsin  River  opposite  Prairie  du  Sac.  Immedi 
ately  afterward  Black  Hawk  loaded  a  large  raft  with  women, 
children,  and  old  men,  and  sent  it  down  the  river,  hoping 
they  would  reach  the  western  side  of  the  Mississippi.  But 
they  were  intercepted  by  the  soldiers  on  duty  at  Fort  Craw 
ford  where  the  Wisconsin  joins  the  greater  river.  Some 
were  killed,  some  were  drowned,  some  were  captured,  and 
others  who  escaped  to  shore  nearly  all  perished  in  the  wilds. 
The  main  body  of  Indians  reached  the  Mississippi  forty 
miles  farther  north  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe,  where 


RACINE  REEF  LIGHTHOUSE,  WINTER 


258  What  to  See  in  America 

the  whites  slaughtered  most  of  them,  showing  no  mercy  to 
men,  women,  or  children.  Black  Hawk  got  away  to  the 
Winnebagoes,  but  they  delivered  him  to  the  whites.  After 
being  held  in  prison  nearly  a  year,  he  was  allowed  to  go  to 
Iowa,  where  he  dwelt  on  the  Des  Moines  River  in  Davis 
County  until  he  died,  in  1838. 

Much  of  the  northern  portion  of  Wisconsin  used  to  be 
heavily  timbered  with  lofty  white  pine,  balsam,  hemlock, 
and  other  cone-bearing  evergreen  trees.  It  is  still  possible 
to  find  elk,  deer,  bears,  wolves,  wildcats,  and  beavers  in  the 
wilder  parts  of  the  state.  The  popular  name,  "Badger 
State,"  and  the  nickname  "Badgers"  which  the  people  have 
acquired,  suggests  a  present  or  past  abundance  of  these 
creatures.  But  really  they  are  not  found  in  Wisconsin. 
The  sobriquet  originated  as  a  nickname  for  early  lead 
miners  who  lived  in  dugouts  that  were  like  the  hillside 
burrows  of  the  badger.  Wisconsin's  largest  lake  is  Winne- 
bago,  thirty  miles  long  and  ten  wide.  Fond  du  Lac  at  the 
head  of  the  lake  offers  exceptional  advantages  for  all  kinds 
of  sports  the  year  through,  and  the  eighty-mile  drive  around 
the  lake  is  very  enjoyable.  Smaller  lakes  abound,  many  of 
which  are  notable  for  their  beauty  and  for  their  clear  waters, 
well  stocked  with  fish.  About  thirty  miles  north  of  Madison 
is  Devils  Lake,  six  hundred  acres  in  extent,  on  the  summit  of 
a  mound  three  hundred  feet  high.  In  the  flood  season  the 
Fox  River,  which  is  a  tributary  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  the 
Wisconsin  River,  which  is  a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi,  flow 
into  each  other.  A  canal  connects  the  two  rivers  so  that 
steamboats  can  pass  back  and  forth  between  the  Mississippi 
and  the  lake. 

The  biggest  place  in  the  state  is  Milwaukee,  at  the  mouth 
of  a  river  of  the  same  name,  with  a  good  harbor  formed  by 
erecting  a  huge  breakwater.  The  river  admits  the  largest 
vessels  to  the  doors  of  the  warehouses.  About  two  thirds 


Wisconsin 


259 


of  the  people  are  Germans.  The  city  hall  has  one  of  the 
largest  bells  in  the  world,  and  an  illuminated  clock  dial  that 
is  visible  for  two  miles  at  night.  Washington  Park  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  city  has  the  unusual  attraction  of  a  large 
herd  of  deer.  Sheridan  Drive,  that  skirts  the  lake  to  the 
south,  affords  a  pleasant  outlook  on  the  water.  Seventeen 
miles  to  the  west  is  the  well-known  health  resort,  Waukesha, 
"Home  of  White  Rock,"  where  more  water  is  bottled  and 
shipped  than  from  any  other  town  in  the  country.  About 
fifty  miles  southwest,  at  Lake  Geneva,  is  located  the  Yerkes 
Observatory,  equipped  with  a  telescope  that  has  a  forty-inch 
lens,  the  largest  in  the  world. 


WISCONSIN  FARM  BOYS 


INDIANS  AND  A  BIRCH  BARK  CANOE,  VERMILLION  LAKE 

XXVIII 

Minnesota 

The  name  of  the  state  is  of  Indian  derivation  and  means 
Sky-tinted  Waters.  The  region  abounds  in  lakes  and 
ponds,  and  in  some  sections  you  cannot  travel  five  miles 
without  encountering  one  of  these  expanses  of  water.  Many 
of  them  are  linked  together  by  small  clear  rivulets.  Some  are 
bordered  by  grassy  slopes,  others  by  precipices,  and  they 
often  contain  wooded  islands.  Their  beds  are  generally 
pebbly,  or  are  covered  with  small  bowlders,  which  peep  out 
along  the  shore.  The  water  is  usually  sweet,  clear,  and  cold. 
Fish  are  plentiful  in  them,  and  are  much  superior  in  flavor 
to  those  from  muddy  and  warm  waters.  In  some  parts  of 
the  state  are  numerous  waterfalls.  A  waterfall  in  the 
Dakotah  tongue  is  called  a  "  ha-ha,"  which  may  be  trans 
lated  "laughing- water."  The  best  known  ha-ha  in  Minne 
sota  is  that  of  St.  Anthony ,  a  fifty-foot  leap  of  the  Mississippi. 

260 


Minnesota 


261 


THE  STATE  HOUSE  AT  ST.  PAUL 


It  was  named  by  Father 
Hennepin,  who  had  been 
taken  thither,  a  captive, 
by  a  party  of  Indian  buf 
falo  hunters  in  1680. 

The  government  estab 
lished  Fort  Snelling,  in 
1819,  on  a  bluff  six  miles 
below  these  falls  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  just  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Minnesota 
River.  Here  the  first 
marriage  ceremony  in 
Minnesota  was  performed,  the  first  white  child  born,  and 
the  first  school  taught.  On  the  other  side  of  the  Minnesota 
River  there  developed  the  little  hamlet  of  Mendota,  inhab 
ited  by  French  and  half-breeds  with  their  Indian  wives  and 

children.  In  1821  soldiers 
from  the  fort  built  a  saw 
mill  on  the  west  side  of 
the  falls,  where  now 
stands  one  of  the  greatest 
flouring  mills  in  the  world. 
The  land  on  that  side  was 
a  military  reservation  not 
open  to  settlement,  and  a 
man  named  Parrant,  who 
attempted  to  establish  his 
home  there,  was  driven 
off  by  the  soldiers  in  1838. 
He  went  down  the  river 
a  few  miles  and  built  a 
THE  FALLS  OF  MINNEHAHA  whisky  shanty  on  the  east 


262 


What  to  See  in  America 


side  near  the  streamlet  that  issues  from  Fountain  Cave. 
His  hut  was  the  beginning  of  the  present  city  of  St.  Paul. 
The  next  year  the  village  of  St.  Anthony  was  organized  on 
the  east  side  of  the  falls,  and  in  1851  a  little  hamlet  called 
Minneapolis  came  into  being  on  the  opposite  shore.  Both 
at  length  became  cities,  and  in  1872  they  consolidated  under 
the  name  of  the  latter.  Since  then  Minneapolis  has  been 
the  largest  place  in  the  state.  With  its  magnificent  water 
power  it  has  grown  into  an  important  manufacturing  center, 
and  its  location  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  great  prairies  of 
Minnesota  and  Dakota  has  made  it  the  primary  wheat 
market  of  the  world.  The  city  has  more  than  fifty  grain 

storage  elevators, 
with  an  average  ca 
pacity  of  a  million 
bushels  each.  The 
twenty-five  flour 
mills  turn  out  every 
working  day  an  aver 
age  of  over  55,000 
barrels  —  enough  to 
fill  275  freight  cars. 
It  requires  the  yield 
of  6,000,000  acres  to 
supply  their  annual 
output. 

A  tiny  settlement 
that  dev  eloped 
around  Parrant's 
whisky  shanty  ac 
quired  a  name  in 
1841,  when  a  priest 
blessed  a  little  log 
A  CANOE  TRAIL  chapel  the  people 


Minnesota 


263 


there  had  built,  and  dedicated  it  to  St.  Paul,  "the  apostle 
of  the  nations."  The  village  began  then  to  be  called  St. 
Paul's  Landing.  Since  1848  the  place  has  been  the  capital 
of  Minnesota.  It  became  the  political  and  professional 
center  of  the  state,  and  it  has  excelled  in  the  development 
of  railway  and  general  transportation  enterprises.  St.  Paul 
and  Minneapolis  are  so  near  each  other  and  have  grown  with 
such  similar  rapidity  that  they  are  called  the  "Twin  Cities." 
The  State  Capitol  cost  four  and  one  half  million  dollars  and 
is  embellished  with  works  of  art  by  some  of  the  most  noted 
American  sculptors,  painters,  and  decorators.  In  the  bluffs 
rising  from  the  river  are  many  caves  which  are  used  for  cold 
storage  purposes,  or  in  which  are  grown  mushrooms.  The 
mushroom  industry  is  one  in  which  St.  Paul  leads  the  coun 
try.  Somewhat  east 
of  St.  Paul's  busi 
ness  center  is  Indian 
Mounds  Park.  Here 
were  originally  sixteen 
mounds,  but  archaeol 
ogists  in  their  eager 
ness  to  investigate 
have  reduced  the  num 
ber  to  six.  About  a 
mile  to  the  south  is 
the  oddly  named  Pigs 
Eye  Lake. 

The  beauty  of  Lake- 
wood  Cemetery,  bor 
dering  two  lakes  on  the 
outskirts  of  Minneap 
olis,  can  scarcely  be 
excelled.  The  most 

delightful  resort  in  the  BURNTSIDE  LAKE 


264 


What  to  See  in  America 


region  around  the  Twin  Cities  is  Lake  Minne tonka,  fifteen 
miles  west  of  Minneapolis.  The  lake  is  singularly  irregular 
in  outline,  and  while  its  length  is  not  much  over  a  dozen 
miles  it  has  a  shore  line  of  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty 

miles.  Its  outlet  is 
Minnehaha  Creek, 
which  flows  easterly 
•  through  a  romantic 
valley  to  the  Missis 
sippi.  Within  half  a 
mile  of  the  great 
river  it  makes  a  sud 
den  descent  of  sixty 
feet  in  the  graceful 
Falls  of  Minnehaha, 
immortalized  in 
Longfellow's  poem, 
"Hiawatha."  The 
vicinity  of  the  falls 
is  a  favorite  for  the 
people  of  the  neigh 
boring  cities,  and 
draws  thither  thou 
sands  of  pilgrims  from  a  distance  every  year. 

Minnesota  contains  the  summit  of  the  central  tableland 
of  the  continent.  Here,  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other, 
are  the  sources  of  rivers  which  find  outlets  in  Hudson  Bay, 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The 
first  attempt  to  discover  the  source  of  the  Mississippi  was 
made  by  an  expedition  led  by  Lieut.  Zebulon  M.  Pike,  which 
started  from  St.  Louis  in  1805.  Pike  made  the  latter  part  of 
his  journey  in  winter  on  snowshoes  to  Cass  Lake,  which  he 
believed  to  be  the  "upper  source  of  the  Mississippi."  In 
1832  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft,  an  Indian  Agent  located  at 


FOREST  NEAR  CASS  LAKE 


Minnesota  265 

Sault  Sainte  Marie,  visited  the  wilderness  of  the  upper 
Mississippi,  and  went  with  his  party  in  five  canoes  from  Cass 
Lake  to  Lake  Bemidji.  Thence  he  paddled  southward  to  a 
body  of  water  which  his  Indian  guide  assured  him  was  the 
beginning  of  the  great  river,  and  which  he  called  Lake 
Itasca.  Another  person  with  a  fever  for  exploration  was  a 
French  astronomer  named  Xicollet,  who  visited  the  Mis 
sissippi  headwaters  four  years  later.  He  traced  a  tributary 
of  Lake  Itasca  through  two  lakelets  to  a  third  from  which 
he  found  "  the  infant  Mississippi  flowing  with  a  breadth  of  a 
foot  and  a  half,  and  a  depth  of  one  foot."  This  settlement 
of  the  matter  was  accepted  till  1891  when  a  careful  examina- 


SOUTH  TEMPERANCE  LAKE 

tion   resulted   in   finding  an    "ultimate   bowl"   from  which 
Nicollet's  three  lakelets  were  fed. 

Minnesota  has  a  larger  water  area  than  any  other  state. 
There  are  approximately  10,000  lakes  within  its  borders, 
ranging  from  one  to  thirty  miles  in  diameter,  and  the  majority 


266 


What  to  See  in  America 


of  these  are  in  what  is 
called  the  Lake  Park 
Region  at  the  head  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley. 
Nowhere  is  there  better 
fishing  than  in  this  dis 
trict,  and  the  shooting 
is  also  excellent.  Moose 
and  bear  lurk  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  lake 
area.  Deer  are  plenti 
ful,  for,  though  thou 
sands  are  killed  each 
year,  the  supply  does  not 
diminish.  It  is  possible 
to  start  on  a  hunting 
trip  in  the  morning  from 
a  modern  town  that  is 
within  such  easy  reach 
of  the  wild  game  haunts 
you  can  be  back  by  eve 
ning.  Camping  and  bathing  can  be  enjoyed  to  your  heart's 
content,  and  one  of  the  pleasures  easily  realized  is  making  a 
canoe  trip  over  a  chain  of  lakes  for  a  day  or  several  days, 
going  and  coming  by  a  different  route.  Only  a  few  of  the 
many  resorts  that  merit  a  visit  can  be  mentioned  here.  At 
Walker  is  Leech  Lake,  one  of  the  biggest  of  the  "bigwaters" 
of  the  "piney  woods  country,"  and  the  Leech  Lake  Indians 
still  dwell  thereabouts.  An  everyday  catch  for  the  angler 
in  this  lake  is  two  or  three  score  of  bass  or  of  the  fighting 
golden  perch.  From  Backus,  somewhat  to  the  south,  is 
reached  that  family  of  lakes  called  Man  Lake,  Woman  Lake, 
and  Little  Boy  Lake.  Cass  Lake  and  its  linked  waters  are 
favorite  fishing-places  for  muscallonge.  Muskies  that  weigh 


A  BATEAU  ON  LAKE  BEMIDJI 


Minnesota  267 

sixty  pounds  are 
caught  sometimes, 
and  forty-pounders 
often.  By  canoe  you 
can  go  from  there 
up  the  Mississippi  to 
BemidjiLake  or  down 
to  Lake  Winnibigash- 
ish.  Chains  of  lakes 
almost  encircle  Park 

Rapids.    There  is  the 
A  DULUTH  ELEVATOR  ,  r         rr(  „,     .         ,, 

Man    Irap   (ham  of 

fifteen  lakes,  and  the  Crow  Wing  Chain  of  twelve,  and  the 
Fish  Hook  Chain  of  ten.     Grand  Marais  is  on  the  scenic 
north  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  almost  at  the  tip  of  Minne 
sota's  "thumb,"  and  back  of  it  lies  the  region  of  Elbow 
Lake  and  Devil  Track   Lake   in  a  glorious  corner  of  the 
Minnesota  "North  Country."     At  International  Falls  you 
have  reached  Minnesota's  northern  "land's  end"  and  have 
gained  the  threshold  of  the  primeval  woods-and-water  region 
of   Rainy   Lake.     You  can  start    here  with  launch,  motor 
boat,  or  canoe,  and  go  exploring  the  lake  on  a  hide-and-go- 
seek  cruise  among     r 
its    hundreds    of 
rockbound     is 
lands.     Warroad, 
the  farthest  north 
town   of   Minne 
sota,  is  the  gate 
way  of  the  mighty 
Lake     of     the 
Woods  that  meas- 
ures    nearly   a 
hundred    miles  AN  INDIAN  WIGWAM 


268  What  to  See  in  America 

from  head  to  foot.  No  other  lake  has  in  it  so  many 
islands. 

Duluth,  at  the  head  of  the  mighty  freshwater  sea  of  Lake 
Superior,  is  the  world's  busiest  inland  port.  In  its  harbor 
you  see  scores  on  scores  of  ships  that  hail  from  all  the  ports 
of  the  Great  Lakes.  They  come  laden  with  merchandise 
and  coal  for  the  Northwest,  and  go  away  loaded  with  grain, 
flour,  and  iron  ore.  The  place  takes  its  name  from  a  Cana 
dian  trader  and  explorer  named  Du  Lhut  who  visited  the 
vicinity  in  1679.  It  was  settled  in  1853,  and  had  only  eight 
white  inhabitants  seven  years  later.  Ice  stops  all  navigation 
in  winter.  April  19  is  the  average  date  of  the  first  arrival 
of  a  vessel  from  the  lower  lakes,  and  December  5  the  date 
of  the  last  departure.  Twenty-one  inches  of  snow  have 
been  known  to  fall  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  snow  is 
usually  dry,  and  it  packs  hard  so  that  sleighing  is  a  certainty 
all  through  the  winter.  Ski  running  is  a  favorite  winter 
sport,  and  a  jump  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen  feet  was 
made  at  Duluth  in  1908.  The  harbor  is  entered  by  a  short 
canal,  and  travelers  are  interested  in  the  ingenious  aerial 
bridge  by  which  teams  and  people  cross  the  canal. 

The  iron  country  lies  about  a  hundred  miles  to  the  north. 
Only  a  short  time  ago  this  was  part  of  a  vast  forest  region 
where  the  lumber  industry  was  at  its  height,  but  many  a 
once  lively  and  prosperous  town  that  was  dependent  on  this 
industry  is  now  almost  depopulated.  The  first  iron  mines 
in  the  state  were  opened  at  Tower  on  Vermilion  Lake  in 
1884.  Tower  is  on  the  borders  of  a  primeval  land  of  tam 
arack,  spruce,  birch,  and  pine,  of  moose  and  caribou,  and  of 
birch-bark  canoes.  Here,  too,  are  Indians  who  still  live  in 
aboriginal  wigwams,  and  get  their  living  largely  by  hunting 
and  fishing. 

Mining  in  the  great  Mesabi  Range  began  in  1892,  and  a 
score  of  years  later  the  output  of  the  state  had  risen  to  nearly 


Minnesota 


269 


two  thirds  that  of  the  entire  country.  In  some  places  the 
Mesabi  beds  of  ore  are  so  close  to  the  surface  that  the  mines 
are  open  pits,  and  often  the  ore  is  soft  enough  to  be  dug  out 
with  steam  shovels,  which  take  five  tons  at  each  thrust  of 
the  scoop  and  drop  it  into  the  cars  behind  them.  The 
loaded  cars  bear  the  ore  swiftly  to  the  docks  at  Duluth, 
where  it  is  transferred  to  the 
lake  vessels,  and,  in  less  than 
a  week  from  the  time  it  was 
mined,  it  may  have  been 
made  into  rails  and  billets 
by  the  Pittsburg  furnaces. 
The  richest  village  in  America 
is  Hibbing,  in  the  heart  of 
the  treasure  land  of  iron 
of  the  Mesabi  Range.  This 
range  reaches  a  greater  ele 
vation,  1920  feet,  than  any 
other  spot  in  the  state. 

In  the  northwestern  part 
of  Minnesota,  extending  into 
Canada,  is  the  Red  River 
Valley,  which  is  such  a  pro 
lific  wheat  country  that  it  is 
known  as  the  "  Bread  Basket 

of  the  World."  It  is  fifty  miles  across  and  all  of  two  hundred 
miles  long,  and  so  level  that  after  a  rain  the  water  stands 
in  sheets  on  the  fields.  The  roads  have  to  be  elevated  a 
foot  or  more  above  the  surrounding  land,  else  they  would 
be  muddy  much  of  the  time.  No  matter  in  what  direction 
you  look,  there  is  nothing  to  break  the  view  except  a  farm 
house  every  half  mile  or  so  with  a  few  trees  around  it. 
The  winds  have  a  free  sweep,  and  in  winter  fierce  blinding 
snowstorms  are  not  uncommon. 


A  FOREST  FIRE 


270 


What  to  See  in  America 


An  enchanting 
section  of  the  state 
is  the  St.  Croix 
River  Country  on 
the  Wisconsin 
border.  At  Taylor's 
Falls  you  find  the 
Dalles,  where  the 
river  eddies  in  deep 
canyons  of  trap 
rock,  and  where  the 
Devil's  Chair  and 
the  Old  Man  of 
the  Dalles  and  the 
'Washington  Rock 
and  many  more  fan 
tasies  in  stone  frown 
down  on  the  wild 
waters. 

A  half  hundred 
miles  south  of  St. 
Paul  the  Mississippi 
broadens  into  Lake 
Pepin,  that  meas 
ures  three  miles 
from  shore  to  shore, 
and  no  less  than 
thirty  miles  from 
end  to  end,  and  is 
flanked  by  mighty 
rock-crowned  high 
lands,  which  some 
times  rise  five  hun 
dred  feet  above  the 


Minnesota  271 

river.  Lake  City  and  Frontenac  are  favorite  resorts  on  the 
shores  of  this  so-called  lake.  Just  above  the  head  of  the 
lake  is  Red  Wing,  on  a  bluff  overlooking  a  long  sweep  of 
the  picturebook  region  of  the  Upper  Mississippi.  Here  is 
excellent  fishing  for  bass,  pickerel,  and  wall-eyed  pike. 

Minnesota  is  called  the  "North  Star  State,"  a  title  it 
derives  from  the  "Star  of  the  north"  on  its  seal.  The  people 
are  nicknamed  "Gophers,"  from  the  abundance  of  this 
species  of  ground  squirrel  in  the  state. 


A  LOCK  AT  THE  KEOKUK  DAM 

XXIX 

Iowa 

Iowa  is  the  farmers'  paradise.  Nearly  every  acre  of  it  can 
be  cultivated,  and  repays  generously  the  labor  bestowed,  the 
climate  is  kindly  yet  bracing,  and  access  to  markets  is 
phenomenally  easy.  Every  county  seat  has  at  least  one 
railroad  running  through  it.  Iowa  is  the  most  purely 
agricultural  of  all  the  states,  and  it  excels  the  others  in 
raising  hogs  and  horses.  Its  name  is  that  of  a  tribe  of 
Indians  which  formerly  dwelt  in  the  region,  and  means 
"  Sleepy  Ones."  It  is  popularly  called  the  "  Hawkey e State, " 
from  an  Indian  chief  of  that  name  who  was  a  terror  to 
travelers  there  in  early  days.  The  people  are  nicknamed 
"Hawkeyes."  Iowa  is  a  typical  prairie  plain.  It  has  no 
mountains,  but  the  banks  of  the  rivers  are  lined  by  bold 
limestone  bluffs  alternating  with  picturesque  ravines.  In 
the  northeast  portion  are  hills,  down  whose  rock  ledges  the 

272 


Iowa  273 

streams  often  leap  in  attractive  waterfalls.  The  vicinity  of 
Mt.  McGregor  in  this  part  of  the  state  is  especially  varied 
and  charming.  Iowa  attains  its  greatest  height,  1800 
feet,  at  Primghar,  O'Brien  County,  in  the  northwest 
corner.  The  greater  portion  of  the  state  is  so  free  from 
natural  obstructions  that  most  of  the  country  roads  are  laid 
out  in  straight  lines  and  cross  each  other  at  right  angles  with 
the  absolute  regularity  of  a  checkerboard. 

The  first  settler  was  Julien  Dubuque,  who  came  from 
Canada  in  1788  and  obtained  a  grant  of  a  large  tract  that 
included  the  city  which  bears  his  name  and  the  rich  mineral 
lands  roundabout.  He  built  a  fort,  carried  on  the  mining 
of  lead,  and  traded  with  the  Indians  until  his  death  in 
1810,  when  the  settlement  was  abandoned.  Not  until 
1832  were  there  any  permanent  settlements.  In  that  year 
two  groups  of  emigrants  established  themselves  down  in  the 
southeast  section  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  one  group 
where  Fort  Madison  now  is,  and  the  other  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Burlington. 

Des  Moines,  the  metropolis  of  the  state,  became  the  capital 
in  1857.  It  was  originally  a  frontier  fort  built  in  1843,  not 
to  protect  the  whites  from  the  savages,  but  to  secure  for 
the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  the  peaceful  possession  of  their 
hunting  grounds  until  negotiations  were  completed  for  the 
purchase  of  the  land.  The  fort  consisted  simply  of  one- 
story  log  huts 
with  puncheon 
floors  for  the 
troops'  quarters, 
a  storehouse,  hos 
pital,  and  stables, 
Never  has  a  finer 
farm  region  been 

opened   for    hll-  THE  MISSISSIPPI  NEAR  MT.  MCGREGOR 

T 


274  What  to  See  in  America 

man  settlement  than  the  virgin  Iowa  country,  and  the 
stories  of  its  marvelous  fertility  gave  a  tremendous  impetus 
to  emigration.  Even  before  the  Indians'  title  to  the  land 
had  expired  many  whites  had  slipped  over  the  borders  and 
spied  out  the  most  desirable  places  for  settlement.  Stories 
are  told  of  men  roosting  high  in  trees  for  days  to  keep  out 
of  sight  of  the  troops.  On  the  night  of  October  10,  1845, 
men  were  stationed  in  all  directions  from  the  fort  ready  to 


Photo  by  Brown  Brothers. 
CUTTING  WHEAT  NEAR  DBS  MOINES 

measure  off  their  claims.  Precisely  at  midnight  a  signal  gun 
at  the  agency  was  fired.  Answering  guns  rang  out  sharply 
in  quick  succession  from  hilltop  and  valley  for  miles  around. 
The  moon  was  shining  dimly,  and  its  beams  supplemented 
the  fitful  gleams  of  the  settlers'  torches  as  they  hastily 
made  their  rough  surveys,  marked  by  slashing  trees,  or  set 
ting  stones  or  stakes.  Stage  coaches  furnished  the  chief 
public  means  of  conveyance  in  the  region  until  the  railroad 
entered  Des  Moines  in  1866. 

In  the  northwestern  part  of  the  state,  close  to  the  Minne 
sota  boundary,  is  Spirit  Lake,  a  popular  summer  resort. 
Okoboji  Lake  near  by  is  also  attractive.  Down  toward  the 


Iowa  275 

southwest  corner  of  the  state  is  Council  Bluffs,  on  the  main 
route  of  the  Union  Pacific  to  California.  Its  name 
memorializes  a  council  held  with  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity 
by  the  explorers,  Lewis  and  Clark,  in  August,  1804.  An 
interesting  experiment  in  the  city  is  the  use  of  "  Boy  Police 
men"  to  supplement  the  regular  force. 

At  Amana,  in  eastern  Iowa,  twenty  miles  southwest  of 
Cedar  Rapids,  is  the  largest  and  most  prosperous  communistic 
settlement  in  the  country.  The  members  of  the  society  here 
are  1800  Germans  who  style  themselves  "  Inspirationists. " 
They  cultivate  25,000  acres  of  land,  keep  flocks  and  herds, 
have  sawmills  and  gristmills,  and  produce  woolen  and  cotton 
fabrics.  In  their  four  churches,  all  under  one  roof,  are  held 
quaint  religious  services.  The  roads  in  this  section  of  Iowa 
are  very  bad  in  wet  weather  on  account  of  "gumbo,"  a 
peculiar  soil  that  attains  the  limit  of  slippery  stickiness 
when  wet. 


QUOITS  IN  THE  VILLAGE  WHEKE  MARK  TWAIN  WAS  BORN 


XXX 

Missouri 

When  Father  Marquette  and  his  companions  came  down 
the  Mississippi  in  1673  their  frail  canoes  were  almost  over 
whelmed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  whose  yellow  torrent 
swept  masses  of  driftwood,  including  entire  uprooted  trees, 
into  the  main  stream  with  great  violence.  Marquette  was 
interested  to  note  that  the  clear  water  of  the  river  from  the 
north  and  the  muddy  torrent  from  the  west  continued  side 
by  side  without  mixing  for  many  miles.  The  Missouri 
bears  an  Indian  name,  which  means  "Big  Muddy."  It  is 
2908  miles  long,  while  the  Mississippi  above  their  point  of 
meeting  is  only  1330  miles.  The  former  contributes  the 
larger  amount  of  water  to  the  joint  stream.  It  is  subject  to 
two  annual  floods,  one  in  May  caused  by  the  melting  of  snow 
on  the  lowland  prairies,  the  other  in  June  caused  by  the 
melting  of  the  mountain  snows. 

The  earliest  Missouri  settlement  was  St.  Genevieve,  fifty 

276 


Missouri 


277 


miles  down  the  Mississippi  from  St.  Louis.  It  was  founded 
about  1705.  Nearly  a  score  of  years  later  the  French 
erected  a  fortification,  which  they  called  Fort  Orleans,  on 
an  island  in  the  Missouri  River  near  the  mouth  of  the  Osage. 
They  tried  to  establish  friendly  relations  with  the  Indian 
tribes,  but  two  years  had  scarcely  passed  when  the  savages 
attacked  the  fort,  and  not  one  of  the  garrison  survived  to 
tell  the  tale. 

St.  Louis,  twenty  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri, 
began  as  a  fur-trading  station  in  1763.     The  town's  first 
church   was  built   seven   years  later.     Its    walls    were    of 
flattened  logs  set  on  end,  and  the  interstices  were  filled  with 
mortar.     At  the  time  of  the  Revolution  the  people  dug  a 
trench  and  erected  a  stockade  around  the  town,  and  in  the 
center  of  the  inclosure  built  a  fort  which  they  supplied  with 
four  small  cannon.     One  May  morning  in  1780  a  thousand 
Upper    Mississippi    Indians 
led  by  Canadian-French  ren 
egades  appeared,  slew  forty 
field-workers    and    captured 
fifteen   others.     The   fortifi 
cations  and  the  booming  of 
cannon  saved  the  fort.     The 
Spanish  governor  was  drunk 
and   came  to  command  the 
defenders     sprawling     in    a 
wheelbarrow  and  muttering 
incoherently    after    the    In 
dians     had     been     repulsed 
and    gone   off   up   the   river 
in  their  war  canoes.     When 
the  United   States   acquired 
Louisiana  in  1804,  St.  Louis 
was  a  village  of  one  hundred  MARKET  DAY 


278  "What  to  See  in  America 

and  eighty  houses, 
most  of  them  one- 
room  log  cabins  built 
after  the  French  fash 
ion  with  the  logs  set 
upright  in  the  ground 
or  on  plates.  It  had 
one  doctor  and  three 
blacksmiths,  and  it 

had    a    bakery,    two 
A  RAIL  FENCE,  OZARK  MOUNTAINS  .n  ,    .  n 

mills,  and  two  small 

taverns.  The  place  was  a  resort  for  men  clad  in  buckskin 
and  carrying  rifles,  and  for  Indians  in  paint  and  feathers. 
From  there  the  employees  of  John  Jacob  Astor's  American 
Fur  Company  in  search  of  peltries  went  forth  in  all  direc 
tions  —  some  of  them  to  the  very  surf  of  the  Pacific. 

In  1808  the  first  newspaper  established  west  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  began  publication  at  St.  Louis.  The  first  steamboat 
that  ever  ascended  the  Mississippi  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio  arrived  at  St.  Louis  August  2,  1817.  The  motive 
power  of  the  engine  had  to  be  reenforced  at  times  by  the 
exertions  of  the  crew,  who  resorted  to  poling.  She  did  not 
run  at  night,  and  was  six  weeks  in  coming  from  Louisville. 
All  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  had  gathered  to  welcome  the 
novel  visitor.  Among  them  was  a  group  of  Indians,  who 
were  filled  with  such  dismay  by  the  noisy  machinery  and 
murky  smoke  that  they  fled  to  the  high  ground  back  of  the 
village.  In  1849  a  fire  started  on  the  steamer  White  Cloud 
lying  at  one  of  the  wharves,  and  in  half  an  hour  twenty-three 
steamboats  had  been  abandoned  to  the  flames  after  vain 
attempts  to  cut  loose  from  their  moorings  and  shove  out 
into  the  stream.  The  wind  blew  hard  shoreward,  and  the 
fire  burned  or  seriously  damaged  fifteen  blocks  of  buildings. 
The  total  loss  was  $10,000,000.  So  devastating  a  fire  had 


Missouri 


279 


never  before  been  known  in  the  United  States.  Property 
of  about  the  same  value  was  destroyed  by  a  tornado  in 
May,  1890,  and  three  hundred  persons  were  killed. 

St.  Louis  is  the  metropolis  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  continent,  midway  between  the  East  and 
West,  the  North  and  South,  and  the  removal  thither  of 
the  national  government  has  been  advocated  as  recently  as 
1875.  It  has  the  reputation  of  combining  Eastern  thrift, 
Northern  energy,  Western  enterprise,  and  Southern  hos 
pitality. 

Twenty  miles  west  of  the  city  is  St.  Charles,  where  can 
be  seen  Missouri's  first  State  House  and  the  executive  man 
sion  occupied  by  the  first  governor.  At  Fulton,  a  hundred 
miles  farther  west,  is  the  stone  house  in  which  Daniel  Boone, 
the  famous  pioneer,  spent  his  last  years  and  died  in  1822. 
The  capital  of  the  state  is  Jefferson  City,  a  prosperous  place 
on  the  Missouri  one  hundred  and  forty-three  miles  above 
the  river's  mouth. 

Eighty  miles  south  of  St.  Louis  is  Iron  Mountain,  about 
1100  feet  high.  It  is  an  irreg-  p^ 
ular  hill  capped  with  a  deposit 
of  iron,  seventy  per  cent  pure, 
which  is  from  six  to  thirty  feet 
thick.  Pilot  Knob,  a  half  dozen 
miles  farther  south,  contains  an 
other  wonderful  bed  of  iron  ore. 
In  this  vicinity  is  Taum  Sauk 
Mountain,  with  an  altitude  of 
1750  feet,  the  highest  in  Missouri. 

On  the  northwestern  border  of 
the  state  is  Hannibal,  a  river 
port  and  railroad  center  chiefly 

interesting  as  the  boyhood  home 
f    "A/To^L-   T,r          "      TVi      U  MARK  TWAIN'S  BOYHOOD  HOME 

or     Mark  iwain.       Ihe  house  AT  HANNIBAL 


280  What  to  See  in  America 

in  which  he  lived  is  now  the  property  of  the  city  and  is 
maintained  as  a  permanent  memorial.  Here  the  humorist 
got  inspiration  for  two  of  his  most  popular  books —  "Tom 
Sawyer"  and  "Huckleberry  Finn."  Great  ragged  bluffs 
rise  along  the  river  front,  and  farther  back  are  many  wild 
hills  and  glens.  Two  miles  north,  up  the  "River  Road," 
is  a  hill  where  the  boys  used  to  dig  for  treasure,  and  three 
miles  beyond  the  town  in  the  other  direction  is  a  cave  in 
which  Tom  Sawyer  had  some  notable  adventures.  The 
author's  birthplace  was  Florida,  a  little  town  up  Salt  River, 
twenty-five  miles  away.  There  "Mark  Twain"  was  born 
in  1835  in  the  kitchen  of  a  humble  two-room  frame  house. 

Gen.  Pershing,  who  won  fame  in  France  during  the 
World  War  as  the  leader  to  victory  of  the  greatest  force 
the  United  States  ever  put  in  the  field,  was  born  in  1860 
on  the  outskirts  of  Laclede,  a  place  of  about  seven 
hundred  people  then  and  now,  in  the  north  central  part 
of  the  state. 

On  the  boundary  line  in  western  Missouri  is  Kansas  City, 
with  about  250,000  inhabitants,  and  just  across  the  line 
is  another  Kansas  City  with  about  100,000  people.  The 
places  merge  into  each  other  and  are  practically  one. 
The  former  is  the  second  largest  city  in  Missouri,  and 
the  latter  is  the  largest  city  in  Kansas.  The  Missouri 
city  has  the  biggest  railway  station  west  of  New  York.  It 
cost  $6,000,000.  A  passenger  train  arrives  and  departs  on 
an  average  every  five  and  one  half  minutes  day  and  night. 

Missouri  is  called  the  "Bullion  State"  from  the  sobriquet 
"Old  Bullion"  applied  to  Senator  Benton  of  that  state  be 
cause  of  his  stand  for  gold  and  silver  currency. 


LOGGING  IN  AN  ARKANSAS  FOREST 


XXXI 

Arkansas 

Soon  after  Arkansas  was  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1836  it 
was  observed  that  its  two  senators  differed  in  the  pronun 
ciation  and  spelling  of  the  name  of  the  state.  To  one  it  was 
Ar-kan'sas.  To  the  other  it  was  Ar'kan-saw.  Their 
colleagues  presently  fell  into  the  habit  of  referring  to  one  as 
"the  gentleman  from  Arkansas,"  and  to  the  other  as  "the 
gentleman  from  Arkansaw."  For  about  a  half  century 
this  matter  of  the  name  remained  in  doubt,  and  then  the 
state  legislature  dealt  with  it,  and  affirmed  that  out  of 
deference  to  one  of  the  early  senatorial  disputants  the  name 
should  be  spelled  Arkansas,  and  out  of  deference  to  the 
other  it  should  be  pronounced  Arkansaw.  It  is  an  Indian 
name  which  means  "Bow  of  smoky  waters." 

The  surface  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  state  is  broken 
by  swamps  and  small  lakes,  and  is  subject  to  overflow  along 
the  Mississippi,  while  in  the  western  part  are  mountain 

281 


282 


What  to  See  in  America 


A  FORD 


ranges  and  peaks  that 
give  rugged  variety  to 
the  landscape.  The  cul 
minating  height  is  Maga 
zine  Mountain,  about  one 
hundred  miles  west  of 
Little  Rock.  This  has 
an  altitude  of  2800  feet. 
The  best  known  of  the 
mountain  ranges  are  the 
Ozarks,  which  extend 
over  into  southwestern 
Missouri,  and,  with  the 
streams  in  their  valleys, 
have  a  good  deal  of  scenic 
charm. 

Except  in  the  swampy 
districts    the    climate    is 

pleasant  and  healthful.  The  snowfall  is  light,  and  droughts 
are  practically  unknown.  Cotton  is  the  leading  crop.  Animal 
life  continues  abundant  in  the  less  settled  sections  and  in 
cludes  deer,  wolves,  wild  hogs,  panthers,  bears,  wildcats, 
beavers,  coyotes,  eagles,  and  wild  turkeys.  The  Arkansas 
River,  which  flows  across  the  state  in  an  easterly  direction, 
dividing  it  almost  in  the  middle,  ranks  next  to  the  Missouri 
as  the  greatest  tributary  of  the  Mississippi.  It  rises  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  is  1600  miles  long.  For  one  half  of 
its  course  it  is  navigable. 

Where  Little  Rock,  the  state's  largest  city,  has  grown  up 
beside  the  river,  a  low  promontory  projects  into  the  stream, 
while  on  the  opposite  shore  rises  a  bold  precipice.  The 
former  became  known  as  Little  Rock  and  the  latter  as  Big 
Rock.  The  bluff  that  the  city  occupies  is  one  of  slight 
elevation,  but  sufficient  to  avert  danger  of  overflow  from  the 


Arkansas  283 

river.  The  earliest  white  men  to  visit  the  region  were 
French  explorers  who  came  in  canoes  up  the  Arkansas  from 
the  lower  Mississippi.  They  found  the  first  point  of  rocks 
on  the  waterways  where  the  metropolis  of  the  state  now 
stands.  Voyageurs  ascended  the  stream  to  barter  with  the 
Indians  for  furs,  and  in  1686  Arkansas  Post  was  established 
not  many  miles  up  the  river  from  its  junction  with  the 
Mississippi.  Here  the  French  and  Spanish  governors  resided. 
It  was  an  important  trading  post  in  the  earlier  days  of 
American  occupation  and  in  1819  it  became  the  first  territorial 
capital. 

In  1814  there  were  three  or  four  squatters  dwelling  at 
Little  Rock,  or  near  by,  subsisting  chiefly  by  hunting, 
trapping,  and  fishing.  Their  number  increased,  and  an 
effort  was  made  to  give  the  place  the  name  of  Arkopolis. 
Even  when  Little  Rock  became  the  capital  of  the  territory  in 
1820  it  was  only  a  handful  of  huts  in  a  forest  clearing. 
On  the  4th  of  July  of  that  year  the  first  sermon  ever  heard 
there  was  preached  in  a  log  cabin  to  fourteen  men,  probably 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  place.  The  town  was  far  from 
centers  of  population,  and  for  many  years  it  grew  slowly. 
Early  in  1861  the  state  officers  seized  the  arsenal  there,  and 
shortly  afterward  the  - 
ordinance  of  secession 
was  passed.  The 
Confederates  were 

defeated   the   follow-  ^      *f 

ing  year  in  the  far 
northwestern  corner 
of  the  state  at  Pea 
Ridge  and  Prairie 
Grove ;  and  in  Sep 
tember,  1863,  Union 

forces  captured  Little  PLANTING  CORN 


284  What  to  See  in  America 

Rock.  Just  outside  of  Little  Rock  are  the  bauxite  mines 
which  furnish  practically  all  the  ore  for  the  manufacture  of 
aluminum  in  America. 

Arkansas  Hot  Springs  Reservation,  which  has  the  honor  of 
being  our  oldest  national  recreation  place,  was  created  in 
1832.  It  is  in  a  mountainous  region  fifty  miles  southwest 
of  Little  Rock.  The  Springs  were  discovered  in  1541  by 
De  Soto  and  what  was  left  of  the  Spanish  exploring  party 
which  he  led  into  the  American  wilderness.  They  fancied 
they  had  found  the  "long-searched-for  Fountain  of  Youth, 
reported  to  exist  somewhere  in  the  country,  but  ten  of  the 
soldiers  dying  from  excessive  drinking,  they  were  soon 
convinced  of  their  error."  According  to  tradition  the 
Indians  used  to  war  among  themselves  for  possession 
of  these  curative  waters.  The  town  is  in  a  narrow  gorge 
'between  two  spurs  of  the  Ozark  Mountains.  On  one  side 
of  its  wide  Main  Street  are  hotels  and  shops,  and  on  the 
other  side  a  row  of  attractive  bath-houses.  The  springs, 
which  are  forty-six  in  number,  vary  in  temperature  from 
seventy-six  degrees  to  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  degrees, 
and  discharge  daily  one  million  gallons  of  clear,  tasteless, 
and  odorless  water.  They  have  made  the  town  one  of  the 
most  frequented  health  and  pleasure  resorts  in  America. 

Arkansas  is  known  as  the  "Bear  State"  because  bears  used 
to  abound  in  its  forests.  The  people  are  nicknamed  "Tooth 
picks,"  a  playful  allusion  to  the  bowie  knife,  which  was 
formerly  called  an  "Arkansas  toothpick." 


GRAND  LAKE  CYPRESS  TREES 

XXXII 

Louisiana 

The  climate  of  Louisiana  is  in  general  almost  semi-tropical, 
and  even  in  midwinter  the  weather  is  seldom  severely  cold. 
The  surface  of  the  state  is  mostly  low  and  level.  Much  of 
the -southern  part  is  not  over  ten  feet  above  the  sea,  and  is 
liable  to  frequent  inundations  both  from  the  rivers  and  from 
storm-driven  waters  of  the  Gulf.  The  highest  portion  is  in 
the  extreme  north,  where  it  attains  an  elevation  of  four 
hundred  feet  in  Claiborne  County.  Louisiana  is  called  the 
"Pelican  State"  from  the  pelican  shown  in  the  state  seal. 
The  people  are  popularly  spoken  of  as  "Creoles,"  a  name 
which  technically  designates  the  descendants  of  the  original 
French  and  Spanish  settlers. 

The  chief  natural  feature  of  the  state  is  the  Mississippi 
River.  De  Soto  wras  its  discoverer  in  1541,  and  after  another 
year  of  exploring  to  the  west  of  it  he  returned  to  its  banks 
opposite  Natchez  and  there  died  May  21,  on  Louisiana 
soil.  Lest  the  savages  should  mistreat  the  body,  his  followers 
hollowed  out  the  trunk  of  a  large  oak  tree  that  they  felled, 
placed  the  body  in  it,  and  at  night  rowed  out  to  midstream 
with  the  oak  coffin.  Then  they  slid  the  coffin  into  the 

285 


286 


What  to  See  in  America 


stream,  and  the  heavy  green  wood  carried  the  body  of  the 
famous  explorer  to  the  bottom.  In  1673  a  French  expedition 
led  by  Joliet  and  Marquette  started  from  the  Great  Lakes 
in  two  large  birch-bark  canoes,  and  by  way  of  the  Wisconsin 
River  reached  the  Mississippi,  which  they  descended  as  far 
as  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.  Then  they  went  back  to  the 
lakes.  On  April  9,  1682,  La  Salle,  who  had  come  with  a 
fleet  of  canoes  from  the  Lakes  by  way  of  the  Illinois  River, 
reached  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  took  possession  of 
the  great  valley  in  the  name  of  France.  He  called  it 
Louisiana  in  honor  of  his  king,  Louis  XIV. 


CUTTING  SUGAR  CANE 

The  territory  drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries 
extends  nearly  to  Canada  and  across  more  than  half  our 
country's  width.  The  distance  from  the  source  of  the 
Missouri  to  the  Gulf  is  forty-two  hundred  miles,  which 
no  other  river  on  the  globe  can  equal,  and  only  the 
Amazon  discharges  more  water.  In  its  last  rive  hundred 
miles  the  Mississippi  is  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  and 


Louisiana 


287 


twenty  feet  deep.  A  prominent  feature  of  this  part  of  the 
river  is  the  great  levees  guarding  the  land  that  lies  behind 
them  from  floods.  Sometimes  the  levees  fail  to  hold  the 
mighty  river,  as,  for  instance,  in  1882,  when  a  flood  rendered 
75,000  persons  destitute.  The  river  and  its  principal  trib 
utaries  are  navigable  for  many  thousands  of  miles.  The 
first  steamboat  to  plow  the  waters 
of  the  river  was  launched  at 
Pittsburg  in  the  autumn  of  1811. 
She  was  a  stern-wheeler  one  hun 
dred  and  sixteen  feet  long  with 
two  masts,  and  was  painted  sky 
blue.  On  January  10,  1812,  she 
arrived  at  New  Orleans.  As  the 
steamboat  business  developed, 
the  rivalry  between  different  lines 
became  very  fierce  and  resulted 
in  many  strenuous  races  for  su 
premacy.  Often  the  boats  were 
stripped  for  the  contest  and 
pressed  to  the  utmost.  Probably 
the  greatest  steamboat  race  the  world  has  ever  seen  was 
that  between  the  Natchez  and  the  Robert  E.  Lee  in  1870. 
On  the  afternoon  of  June  30  the  Lee  backed  out  from  the 
New  Orleans  levee  to  start  for  St.  Louis.  All  parts  of  her 
upper  works  that  were  likely  to  catch  the  wind  and  that 
could  be  spared  had  been  removed,  and  all  business  for  way 
landings  had  been  refused,  and  no  passengers  had  been  re 
ceived.  Five  minutes  after  the  departure  of  the  Lee  the 
Natchez  followed.  The  whole  country  was  interested  in  the 
race,  and  the  details  of  its  progress  were  reported  by  tele 
graph.  Immense  sums  of  money  were  wagered  on  the 
result.  Crowds  gathered  at  the  various  cities  along  the 
river.  The  Lee  completed  her  trip  in  three  days,  eighteen 


OLD  PLANTATION  HOME 


288  'What  to  See  in  America 

hours,  and  fourteen  minutes,  but  her  rival  became  enveloped 
in  a  fog  above  Cairo  and  did  not  arrive  at  St.  Louis  until  six 
hours  later. 

New  Orleans,  the  largest  city  in  the  United  States  south 
of  St.  Louis,  was  founded  by  the  French  in  1718.  At  first 
it  was  mostly  a  village  of  trappers  and  adventurers.  In 
1762,  when  the  French  were  being  crowded  out  of  the  valley 
by  the  English,  Louisiana,  with  the  Mississippi  River 
serving  for  most  of  the  eastern  boundary  of  its  then  vast 
territory,  was  acquired  by  Spain.  It  again  became  a  French 
possession  in  1800  only  to  be  sold  three  years  later  to  the 
Ignited  States  by  Napoleon,  who  was  fearful  that  he  could  not 
hold  it  against  the  English.  The  domain  swept  northward 
to  Canada  and  westward  to  the  Pacific.  The  price  paid  was 
115,000,000. 

On  Good  Friday,  1788,  a  lighted  candle  in  a  home  chapel 
fell  against  the  lace  draperies  of  the  altar  and  started  a  fire 
which  in  five  hours  reduced  more  than  eight  hundred  build 
ings  to  ashes.  Six  years  later  another  destructive  fire 
Completed  the  work  of  blotting  out  the  French  town,  and  the 
old  New  Orleans  we  now  know  is  the  Spanish  city  which 
replaced  the  other.  In  the  more  ancient  part  of  the  town 
the  streets  generally  have  French  or  Spanish  names,  and 
there  is  a  distinctive  French  quarter  inhabited  by  Creoles, 
„  ....w..—  .^  ^^  where  the  build 

ings  have  walls 
of  adobe  and 
stucco,  tiled  roofs, 
arcades  and  bal 
conies,  and  inner 
courts  with  plash 
ing  fountains 
and  semi-tropical 
LAKE  PONTCHABTRAIN  plants.  Fronting 


Louisiana 


289 


A  LEVEE 


on  Jackson 
Square,  formerly 
known  as  the 
"  Placed' Armes/' 
is  the  most  no 
table  of  New  Or 
leans  churches, 
the  St.  Louis 
Cathedral,  built 
in  1794.  Near 
by  is  the  Cabildo 
-  the  Spanish 

courthouse  in  colonial  days,  in  which  took  place  the  trans 
fer  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States.  Another  building 
that  has  marked  historic  interest  is  the  Hotel  Royal,  erected 
about  1830,  and  for  many  years  the  leading  hotel  of  the 
South.  For  a  time  it  did  service  as  the  state's  Capitol.  In 
its  rotunda  is  the  old  slave  block  where  negroes  were  sold 
at  auction  to  the  highest  bidder.  At  514  Chartres  Street 
is  the  home  of  a  wealthy  merchant  who  conspired  with  a 
Louisiana  pirate  to  make  a  sudden  dash  to  the  island  of  St. 
Helena  with  a  swift  yacht  and  bear  the  imprisoned  emperor, 
Napoleon,  to  liberty.  He  fitted  his  house  up  magnificently 
to  serve  as  the  emperor's  dwelling,  but  before  the  plotters 
were  ready  to  embark,  news  came  of  Napoleon's  death  in 
1821.  The  "Haunted  House"  at  1140  Royal  Street  has 
many  strange  stories  told  about  the  ogress-like  French 
madame  who  used  to  dwell  there  —  how  she  drowned  slave 
babies  in  the  cistern  and  tortured  the  adult  slaves,  and  how, 
after  she  went  away  to  France,  lights  shone  from  the  windows 
of  the  vacant  house  at  night,  ghosts  were  seen,  and  the  cries 
of  the  dead  slaves  were  heard. 

In  the  days  of  long  ago  the  great  negro  gathering  place 
was  Congo  Square,  now  Beauregard  Square;    and  here  on 


290 


What  to  See  in  America 


NEW  ORLEANS,  A  CITY  BASIN 


Sunday  nights  wild 
dances  used  to  occur, 
and  sinister  spells 
were  cast.  Later  the 
voodoos  went  to  se 
cluded  spots  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Pont- 
chartrain. 

Duels  used  to  be  of 
common  occurrence. 
Slender  swords  were 
the  favorite  dueling  weapons  of  the  Creoles,  but  the  Ameri 
cans  preferred  pistols.  As  many  as  ten  duels  are  said  to 
have  been  fought  in  a  single  day  under  the  ancient  live 
oaks  of  the  City  Park,  then  out  in  the  country.  St.  An 
thony's  Garden  was  another  dueling  ground  much  used.  A 
not  uncommon  inscription  in  the  old  cemeteries  is,  "  Killed  on 
the  field  of  honor."  Burials  are  made  above  ground  instead 
of  in  the  watery  soil,  and  the  old  St.  Louis  Cemetery,  thick 
set  with  the  brick  and  marble  dwellings  of  the  dead,  is 
particularly  interesting.  Another  cemetery  that  attracts 
numerous  visitors  has  in  it  a  stone  chapel  dedicated  to  St. 
Roch.  The  chapel  is  famous  as  a  place  where  miracles  are 
wrought.  Thither  people  come  to  pray  for  whatever  they 
happen  to  desire,  confident  that  there  is  a  much  better 
chance  of  having  their  wishes  granted  than  if  they  offered 
their  petitions  elsewhere.  A  considerable  proportion  of  the 
chapel's  patrons  are  young  women  who  beg  the  good  saint  to 
send  them  husbands. 

On  the  levee  is  the  French  Market,  which  reveals  a  scene 
of  great  animation,  especially  if  visited  at  six  or  seven  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  The  Ursuline  Convent  at  the  corner  of 
Chartres  and  Hospital  streets,  built  in  1730,  contains  a 
colonial  musuem.  Among  the  city  thoroughfares  are  those 


Louisiana 


291 


with  such  unusual  names  as  Religious  Street,  Nuns  Street, 
Piety  Street,  Amen  Street,  Mystery  Street,  Madman's 
Street,  Love  Street,  and  Good  Children  Street. 

One  of  New  Orleans'  authors  with  an  international  fame 
is  George  W.  Cable,  whose  novels  of  old  Creole  life  in  New 
Orleans  and  its  vicinity  have  a  striking  individuality  and 
charm. 

The  first  woman  in  the  United  States  honored  by  a  monu 
ment  was  a  dweller  in  New  Orleans  named  Margaret 
Haughery.  For  a  time  she  was  a  laundress  at  the  St. 
Charles  Hotel.  Later  she  bought  two  cows  and  opened  a 
dairy,  and  herself  drove  a  cart  to  deliver  the  milk.  Presently 
she  bought  a  bakery  and  peddled  bread  instead  of  milk. 
The  bakery  grew  to  be  a  factory  and  she  gave  up  peddling. 
Much  of  each  day  she  was  to  be  seen  sitting  in  the  open  door 
way  of  her  factory  office,  and  nearly  every  one  who  passed 
had  a  word  with  her.  Rag 
amuffins,  newsboys,  clerks, 
porters,  and  great  merchants 
and  bankers  all  called  her 
Margaret  and  nothing  else. 
She  always  wore  a  calico 
dress,  had  a  small  shawl  over 
her  shoulders,  and  her  only 
head  covering  was  a  sunbon- 
net.  Margaret  was  thrifty, 
but  not  selfishly  so.  Her 
hobby  was  orphans,  and  the 
epidemics  from  which  New 
Orleans  suffered  left  a  multi 
tude  of  parentless  little  ones. 
Margaret  gave  food  and  col 
lected  it  from  others,  and  she 

gave  money  Constantly.      She  A   NEW  OKLEANS  STREET 


292  ^Vhat  to  See  in  America 

never  learned  to  read  or  write,  and  she  signed  with  a  mark 
the  will  that  distributed  her  thousands  of  dollars  among  the 
orphan  asylums  of  the  city.  When  she  died  in  1882  a  fund 
for  a  statue  was  at  once  collected  and,  almost  before  she  was 
missed,  there  was  the  statue  representing  her  in  the  familiar 
old  chair  with  a  little  shawl  over  her  shoulders  as  the  people 
had  so  long  seen  her. 

Both  cholera  and  yellow  fever  have  devastated  New 
Orleans.  In  1832  the  two  diseases  raged  at  the  same  time, 
and  in  twelve  October  days  a  sixth  of  the  population  perished. 
But  recently  the  city  has  provided  good  drainage,  an  excellent 
filtered  water  supply  in  place  of  her  old  mosquito-breeding 
cisterns,  and  modern  sewers  in  place  of  cesspools.  Rats  have 
been  killed  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  many  other 
things  have  been  done  to  make  the  city  healthful  and 
attractive. 

The  famous  carnival  of  Mardi  Gras  is  celebrated  in  New 
Orleans  annually  with  great  splendor  just  before  the 
beginning  of  Lent.  The  name  is  the  French  designation  for 
the  day  preceding  the  one  on  which  Lent  begins.  It  means 
Fat  Tuesday,  a  term  derived  from  the  fact  that  in  Paris  for 
many  centuries  a  fat  ox  has  been  led  in  the  carnival  procession 
on  that  day  followed  in  a  triumphal  car  by  a  child  called  the 
"  Butchers'  King."  New  Orleans  had  its  first  Mardi  Gras 
parade  in  1837. 

The  city  is  the  outlet  of  the  greatest  agricultural  valley 
in  the  world,  and  is  the  leading  sugar  market,  and  among 
the  most  important  of  rice  and  coffee  markets.  Its  docks  are 
always  lined  with  ships  discharging  or  taking  on  cargoes. 
The  place  is  half  encircled  by  a  great  bend  of  the  river,  and 
thus  has  gained  the  appellation  of  the  "Crescent  City."  A 
favorite  pleasure  resort  is  Lake  Pontchartrain,  five  miles 
north,  where  an  enjoyable  fish  and  game  dinner  can  be 
obtained.  Six  miles  down  the  river  is  the  battlefield  where 


Louisiana 


293 


Andrew  Jackson  with  5000  men  defeated  about  twice  that 
many  British  on  January  8,  1815.  The  Americans  behind 
their  breastworks  lost  seventy-one  in  killed  and  wounded,  and 
the  attacking  enemy  lost  over  2000.  Peace  had  been  signed 
in  Ghent  on  December  24,  but  the  news  did  not  reach 
America  until  about  a  month  later. 

At  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  a  Union  army  acting  in 
conjunction  with  a  powerful  fleet  under  Admiral  Farragut 
captured  New  Orleans  in  April,  1862.     The  task  of  governing 
the  city  was  turned  over  to   f  - 
Gen.    Benjamin    F.     Butler,   : 
whom  the  people  considered 
so  unpardonably  brutal  in  his 
methods  that  they  called  him 
"Beast  Butler." 

The  whole  of  the  southeast 
coast  of  Louisiana  up  to  the 
very  city  is  a  network  of 
bayous,  lakes,  and  lagoons, 
threading  vast  desolate  wastes 
of  salt  marsh,  jungle,  and  for 
ests  of  cypress  and  water- 
oak.  The  region  is  still  the 
haunt  of  wild  things,  untrav- 
ersed  for  the  most  part  save 
by  the  pirogue  of  the  pot 
hunter  or  the  negro  moss 
gatherer.  Turtles,  snakes, 
and  alligators  abound,  and  herons,  cranes,  flamingoes, 
kingfishers,  and  pelicans  hold  a  monopoly  of  the  fisheries. 
The  densest,  most  intricately  water-threaded  district  of 
all  is  that  lying  around  Barataria  Bay.  Through  this 
bay  and  its  tributary  bayous  the  luggers  of  the  Malay, 
Italian,  and  mongrel  fishermen  pass  up  to  New  Orleans.  At 


DRAGGING  AN  ALLIGATOR  FROM 
ITS  HOLE 


294 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  entrance  to  the  bay  is  Grand  Isle,  a  former  haunt  of 
pirates  whose  most  noted  leaders  were  Pierre  and  Jean 
Lafitte,  at  one  time  distinguished  citizens  of  New  Orleans. 
An  expedition  broke  up  their  establishment  here  in  1714, 
and  a  strong  pirate  force  went  down  the  coast  fifty  miles 
and  fortified  itself  on  Last  Island.  The  Lafittes  established 

themselves  at  Galves- 
ton,  Texas,  but  the 
stay  at  both  these 
places  was  short, 
though  pirates  con 
tinued  to  be  a  terror 
in  the  Gulf  until  1821. 
Last  Island  had  be 
come  a  pleasure  resort 
in  1856,  when  a  savage 
tropical  tempest  ob 
literated  it  and  its 
fashionable  hotel  with 
all  the  hotel's  guests. 
Below  New  Orleans 
the  Mississippi  be 
comes  less  defined,  and 
the  stream  finally 
loses  itself  in  the 
marshes  through 
which  various  channels  lead  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  At  the 
lower  end  of  the  South  Pass  are  the  wonderful  jetties  con 
structed  by  Capt.  Eads  in  1875  to  1879  at  a  cost  of  $5,000,000. 
They  forced  the  river  to  scour  out  a  channel  thirty  feet  deep 
where  formerly  the  draft  was  not  more  than  ten  feet.  One 
jetty  is  two  and  one  third  miles  long  and  the  other  one  and 
one  half  miles  long.  They  are  made  of  willow  brush,  rubble, 
and  concrete. 


Louisiana  295 

Morgan  City,  eighty  miles  west  of  New  Orleans,  is  the 
starting  point  for  a  steamer  trip  up  the  picturesque  Bayou 
Teche  into  the  district  to  which  the  Acadians  were  exiled 
from  Nova  Scotia.  The  region  around  is  one  of  great 
stretches  of  plain,  with  tree-lined  waterways,  magnolia 
groves,  live  oaks,  and  cypresses  draped  with  Spanish  moss, 
and  plantations  of  sugar  cane,  cotton,  and  tobacco. 

Baton  Rouge,  which  has  been  the  capital  since  1881,  is  a 
quaint  old  place  on  a  bluff  beside  the  Mississippi.  It  got 
its  name  back  in  March,  1699,  when  some  French  explorers 
on  their  way  up  the  river  saw  there  a  red  corn  stalk  with  the 
heads  of  fish  stuck  on  it  as  an  offering  to  the  spirits  from 
successful  hunters. 

Audubon,  the  naturalist,  was  born  about  1780  on  a 
plantation  at  Mandeville,  twenty  miles  from  New  Orleans 
on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Pontchartrain. 

At  Sulphur,  in  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  state,  are 
sulphur  mines  that  produce  about  one  hundred  tons  of 
sulphur  a  day.  The  sulphur,  which  lies  in  a  bed  several 
hundred  feet  below  the  surface,  is  melted  by  superheated 
steam  and  brought  up  through  a  pipe.  A  hundred  miles  to 
the  east  is  a  remarkable  deposit  of  rock  salt  on  Petit  Anse, 
a  small  island  in  a  marsh  near  Vermilion  Bay,  ten  miles 
south  of  New  Iberia.  Brine  salt  was  discovered  here  in 
1719,  but  the  rock  salt,  which  lies  about  sixteen  feet  below 
the  surface,  was  not  found  until  1861.  This  was  almost 
the  only  source  of  salt  supply  for  the  Confederacy  in  the 
later  years  of  the  Civil  War.  It  is  estimated  that  the  deposit 
consists  of  over  2,000,000,000  tons. 


TS    AT    VlCKSBURG 


XXXIII 

Mississippi 

The  first  settlement  in  Mississippi  was  made  at  Biloxi  on 
the  coast  in  1699.  The  next  year  Fort  Rosalie,  now  Natchez, 
was  settled.  In  1729  the  Indians  conspired  to  expel  the 
French  from  that  region.  They  were  roused  to  this  effort 
by  the  tyranny  of  the  commandant  of  Fort  Rosalie,  who  had 
ordered  them  to  give  up  their  village  called  White  Apple. 
A  day  and  an  hour  were  appointed  when  all  the  French  in 
that  part  of  the  country  were  to  be  attacked  simultaneously. 
November  29,  the  fateful  day,  arrived,  and,  on  some  pretext 
or  other,  Indians  called  at  every  cabin  of  the  white  men, 
prepared  to  do  their  part  in  the  massacre.  Others  swarmed 
into  the  Fort,  explaining  that  they  were  getting  ready  to  go 
on  a  hunting  expedition  and  wanted  guns  and  powder.  At  a 
given  signal  the  Indians  began  their  dreadful  work.  The 
commandant  of  the  fort  was  one  of  the  first  killed,  and  his 

296 


Mississippi 


297 


head  was  carried  to  Chief  Sun,  who  sat  and  smoked  in  the 
government  warehouse  while  his  followers  slaughtered  the 
defenseless  whites.  As  the  massacre  went  on  more  heads 
were  taken  to  Chief  Sun,  and  placed  before  him  in  a  grim 
circle  about  the  head  of  the  commandant.  Over  two  hundred 
whites  were  killed,  and  more  than  one  hundred  women  and 
children  were  taken  prisoners,  as  were  also  the  negro  slaves. 
Two  soldiers,  who  happened  to  be  in  the  woods,  escaped  to 
New  Orleans,  whence  were  sent  avenging  troops.  These 
troops  almost  exterminated  the  tribe  that  had  gone  on  the 
warpath.  Nearly  five  hundred  captives  were  sold  to  slavery 
in  San  Domingo. 

In  1798  Natchez  came  into  the  possession  of  the  United 
States  and  was  made  Mississippi's  capital.  At  the  time 
of  the  Civil  War  it  was  captured  by  Farragut.  It  is  an 
attractive  city  with  broad  streets,  finely  situated  on  a  bluff 
that  overlooks  the  river.  A  portion  of  the  place  bordering 
the  stream  is  called  Nat- 
chez-under-the-hill,  and 
was  formerly  a  resort  of 
river  gamblers,  pirates, 
and  other  desperate  char 
acters. 

Vicksburg,  by  reason 
of  the  part  it  played  in 
the  Civil  War,  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting 
towns  in  the  South,  and 
its  situation  amid  the 
WTalnut  Hills  is  very 
picturesque.  It  came 
into  being  in  1836,  be 
cause  then  the  increasing 

agricultural  population  of  NEGRO  CABINS  IN  FLOOD  TIME 


298 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  region  decided  that  a  town  at  that  point  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  was  a  necessity  for  trade.  The  town  was  laid  oft' 
on  the  plantations  of  William  Yick  and  one  other  man. 
Vicksburg  was  the  key  of  the  Mississippi,  and  it  was  strongly 
fortified  and  garrisoned  by  the  Confederates.  Grant  ar 
rived  in  the  vicinity  to  attempt  its  capture  in  January,  1863. 

The  river  made  a  great 
bend  opposite  the  city, 
and  he  tried  to  dig  a 
canal  across  the  penin 
sula,  which  was  only  a 
mile  wide,  so  that  vessels 
could  go  up  and  down  the 
river  without  coming  in 
range  of  Vicksburg's  guns. 
But  after  six  weeks  of  the 
hardest  kind  of  work,  a 
flood  drowned  many  of 
the  horses  and  forced  the 
men  to  fly  for  their  lives. 
Later  Grant's  troops  went 
down  on  the  west  side  of 
the  river,  and  on  the 
night  of  April  16  some 
supply  boats  ran  past  the 
eight  miles  of  batteries. 
Another  supply  fleet  got  down  the  river  a  week  later.  These 
boats  enabled  the  army  to  cross  the  river,  and  soon  the  city 
was  besieged.  Admiral  Porter's  fleet  bombarded  the  place 
incessantly,  and  many  of  the  people  took  refuge  in  caves 
that  they  dug  in  the  clay  hills.  Vicksburg  people  say  that 
"  The  Yankees  could  have  shelled  the  city  till  hell  froze  over 
without  capturing  it."  What  caused  its  surrender  on  July  4 
was  starvation.  The  battlefield  is  a  national  park. 


A  DUGOUT 


Mississippi  299 

Jackson,  which  has  been  the  capital  since  1815,  is  also  the 
state's  largest  city.  Down  on  the  coast,  five  miles  west  of 
Biloxi,  Jefferson  Davis  had  his  country  home  in  later  life, 
and  there  died  in  1889.  Fifteen  miles  farther  west  is  Pass 
Christian,  the  chief  winter  and  summer  resort  on  the  Gulf 
Coast,  which  is  here  sandy  and  exceptionally  healthful. 

Mississippi  is  called  the  "Bayou  State,"  a  name  that 
refers  to  the  abundance  of  sluggish  inlets  along  its  rivers, 
especially  along  the  great  river  which  forms  its  entire  five 
hundred  mile  western  boundary.  The  state's  highest  point 
is  near  luka  in  the  far  northeast  corner,  seven  hundred 
and  eighty  feet  above  the  sea  level.  "Tadpoles"  is  the 
nickname  for  the  people  of  the  state.  This  is  equivalent 
to  Young  Frenchmen,  for  the  derivation  is  based  on  the 
fact  that  Parisians  used  to  be  called  Frogs. 


THE  ALAMO  AT  SAN  ANTONIO 

XXXIV 

Texas 

Texas  is  nearly  as  large  as  were  the  original  thirteen  colonies. 
It  is  a  land  of  illimitable  distances.  There  are  more  miles 
between  its  northernmost  point  and  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Grande  than  between  Chicago  and  New  York.  East  and 
west  it  measures  nearly  as  much,  and  to  travel  across  it  in 
either  direction  by  the  fastest  train  now  running  requires 
several  hours  more  than  a  full  day.  There  is  much  diver 
gence  in  its  climate.  Orange  and  lemon  trees  flourish  in 
the  southern  counties,  but  a  two-foot  snowfall  is  not  un 
common  in  its  northern  upreach  known  as  the  Panhandle. 
From  east  to  west  the  rainfall  steadily  decreases,  and  the 
splendid  pines  and  oaks  of  the  easterly  portion  give  way  to 
less  pretentious  growths,  ending  with  the  stubby  mesquite 
and  insignificant  sagebrush. 

In  the  Panhandle  is  Deaf  Smith  County,  and  several  other 
counties  in  the   state  are  named  in  a   somewhat   similar 

300 


Texas  301 

familiar  way.  Many  years  ago  a  governor,  James  S.  Hogg, 
was  honored  by  having  a  new  county  created  by  his  friends 
in  the  legislature,  and  it  appears  on  the  map  as  Jim  Hogg 
County.  Texas  has  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  these 
county  divisions.  If  the  entire  population  of  our  country 
was  concentrated  in  Texas  it  would  not  be  as  crowded  as 
in  some  of  the  New  England  states.  Gen.  Sheridan  is  re 
ported  to  have  said,  "If  I  owned  hell  and  Texas,  I  would 
rent  Texas  and  live  in  the  other  place" ;  but  his  experience 
in  the  state  was  that  of  a  lieutenant  in  the  frontier  days 
before  the  Civil  War. 

Six  flags  have  flown  over  Texas.  The  first  was  that  of 
France  brought  by  the  explorer  La  Salle.  He  came  down  the 
Mississippi  River  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  On  New  Year's 
Day,  1685,  he  sailed  into  Matagorda  Bay,  and  there  estab 
lished  a  short-lived  colony.  A  quarter  of  a  century  later 
the  Spaniards  planted  a  mission  at  San  Antonio .  Twenty-five 
presidios,  or  forts,  as  we  would  say  in  English,  with  their 
accompanying  missions,  were  founded  on  Texas  soil  during 
the  hundred  years  of  Spanish  occupation,  but  they  did 
not  thrive.  Next  Mexican  rule  was  substituted  with  little 
better  results,  and  at  the  end  of  fifteen  years  the  Texans 
revolted,  and  established  a  republic  with  the  lone  star  flag 
for  their  emblem.  This  flag  gave  Texas  its  popular  name 
of  the  "Lone  Star  State."  The  republic  lasted  nearly  ten 
years,  and  then,  in  1845,  it  became  one  of  the  United  States. 
Another  change  of  flags  occurred  when,  in  the  Civil  War, 
Texas  joined  the  Confederacy. 

San  Antonio  is  the  earliest  permanent  settlement  in  Texas. 
The  spot  was  selected  in  1690  because  here  were  a  number  of 
springs  that  bubbled  up  out  of  the  earth  and  formed  a 
beautiful  little  stream  of  marvelously  clear  water.  A 
mission  was  established  and  presidio  built,  and  during  practi 
cally  the  whole  of  the  Spanish  and  Mexican  occupation  San 


302  What  to  See  in  America 

Antonio  was  the  capital  of  the  province.  Fronting  on 
the  plaza  in  the  heart  of  the  city  is  one  of  the  most  famous 
historic  buildings  in  America.  It  is  a  low,  strong,  thick-walled 
structure  erected  in  1744,  and  was  probably  the  chapel  of 
the  mission.  It  was  called  the  Alamo  from  the  fact  that  it 
was  in  a  grove  of  alamo  or  cottonwood  trees.  When  Texas 
declared  its  independence  of  Mexico  its  action  aroused  great 
enthusiasm  in  the  United  States,  and  many  of  our  people 
went  to  aid  the  Texans  in  their  struggle  for  liberty.  Among 
these  was  Col.  Bowie,  inventor  of  the  celebrated  hunting 
knife  that  bears  his  name.  Another  was  Davy  Crockett, 
the  mighty  hunter,  in  buckskin  clothing  and  coonskin  cap, 
carrying  his  favorite  long  rifle  named  "Betsy."  They 
and  other  Americans,  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  in  all, 
fortified  themselves  in  the  Alamo,  where  they  were  besieged 
by  four  thousand  Mexicans,  com 
manded  by  Santa  Anna,  the  dictator 
of  Mexico.  Day  after  day  the  de 
fenders  withstood  the  attacking  host 
from  February  23  to  the  morning  of 
March  6,  when  a  breach  was  made 
in  the  yard  wall.  The  frontiersmen 
then  withdrew  to  the  interior  of  the 
building,  where  a  desperate  hand  to 
hand  conflict  ensued.  The  unequal 
contest  reeled  to  and  fro  between  the 
shattered  walls  until  gradually  the 
defenders  were  all  killed.  Crockett 
was  one  of  the  last  to  fall.  Wounded, 
and  ringed  around  with  the  bodies 
of  the  men  he  had  slain,  he  continued 
to  face  the  foe  with  his  back  to  the 
WATER  TOWER,  SAN  wall  as  long  as  he  could  stand.  Wood 
ANTONIO  was  brought  from  the  neighboring 


Texas 


303 


RUINED  MISSION  OF  SAN  JOSE 


forest,  and  this  and 
the  bodies  of  the  de 
fenders  were  arranged 
in  alternate  layers  in 
a  huge  pile  and  burned 
toward  the  end  of  the 
afternoon. 

A  half  dozen  years 
later  San  Antonio  had 
its  most  serious  affair 
with  the  red  men,  when  sixty-five  Comanches,  including 
women  and  children  and  twelve  chiefs,  came  thither  to  a  con 
ference.  This  was  held  in  the  courthouse  which  stood  at  the 
corner  of  Market  Street  and  the  main  plaza.  A  dispute  arose, 
and  the  chiefs  strung  their  bows,  drew  their  knives,  and  made 
a  dash  for  the  door.  Soldiers  who  were  present  fired  on  them, 
and  soon  every  chief  lay  dead  on  the  floor.  The  warriors  and 
squaws  outside  took  up  the  fight,  and  even  the  Indian  boys, 
who  had  been  shooting  at  marks,  turned  their  arrows  on  the 
whites.  Seven  Texans  were  killed,  and  thirty-five  Indians. 

San  Antonio  is  the  largest  of  Texan  cities,  and  in  most 
respects  is  modern,  but  it  still  has  an  old  Mexican  quarter 
where  the  narrow  thoroughfares  are  bordered  by  many  low, 
flat-roofed  adobe  buildings  with  waterspouts  jutting  out 
over  the  street.  The  sound  of  the  army  bugle  is  a  familiar 
one  to  the  people,  for  several  thousands  of  Uncle  Sam's 
soldiers  are  frequently  stationed  at  Fort  Sam  Houston, 
which  occupies  the  most  prominent  elevation  in  the  place. 
The  soldiers'  day  begins  at  sunrise,  when  a  morning  gun  is 
fired.  Then  follows  the  lively  music  of  the  Reveille,  to 
which  the  soldiers  have  set  these  words : 

"  I  can't  get  'em  up,  I  can't  get  'em  up, 
I  can't  get  'em  up  in  the  morning, 
I  can't  get  'em  up  to-day." 


304  What  to  See  in  America 

The  hours  that  follow  are  filled  with  drills,  sham  battles, 
target  practice,  and  other  occupations  until  sunset,  when  the 
band  plays  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  and  the  flag  is 
lowered  from  its  staff. 

The  city  has  many  little  parks,  and  on  its  borders  is  one 
larger  than  New  York's  Central  Park.  This  extends  over  hill 
and  dale  almost  in  its  virgin  forest  state,  and  in  it  roam 
buffalo,  elk,  and  deer.  Aquatic  birds  abound,  wild  songsters 
fill  the  air  with  their  melody,  and  live  oaks  festooned  with 
Spanish  moss  frequently  shade  the  driveways  and  the  river 
that  winds  through  the  park.  Within  six  miles  of  the  city 
are  four  old  Spanish  missions. 

About  seven  weeks  after  the  slaughter  at  the  Alamo, 
Santa  Anna,  who  had  been  raiding  through  the  country 
eastward,  was  surprised  a  few  miles  from  the  present  city  of 
Houston  by  a  force  only  half  the  size  of  his  own.  In  eighteen 
minutes  the  Mexicans  were  completely  routed.  Upward 
of  six  hundred  were  killed,  and  the  next  day  Santa  Anna 
was  captured.  Only  two  Texans  were  slain.  This  was 
the  Battle  of  San  Jacinto.  The  battlefield  is  now  a  beautiful 
park  and  playground.  Sam  Houston,  who  had  recently  been 
elected  president  of  the  infant  republic,  was  the  leader  of  the 
Texans  in  the  affray,  and  the  city  which  was  founded  that 
summer  near  by  was  named  in  his  honor.  For  two  years  it 
served  as  capital,  and  then  the  government  archives  were 
loaded  on  wagons  and  hauled  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
to  Austin.  Houston  is  the  greatest  cotton  market  in  the 
world.  It  handles  twenty  per  cent  of  the  entire  crop  pro 
duced  in  the  United  States.  A  fifty-mile  ship  canal  connects 
it  with  the  Gulf. 

When  Austin  was  selected  for  the  capital  it  was  a  village 
of  a  few  cabins  at  almost  the  extreme  limit  of  settlement. 
The  one-story  frame  building  erected  for  a  Capitol  was 
encompassed  by  a  stockade  to  protect  it  from  raiding  savages. 


Texas 


305 


An  ordinary  double  log  house  at  the  corner  of  Congress  and 
8th  streets  served  as  the  office  of  three  successive  presidents 
of  the  republic,  and  of  several  governors  after  Texas  became 
a  state.  The  present  Capitol,  of  red  granite  completed  in 
1888,  is  the  largest  in  the  United  States  except  that  at 
Washington.  When  the  contract  was  made  for  its  erection 
Texas  possessed  much  land,  but  little  money,  and  a  Chicago 
syndicate  was  given  3,000,000  acres  of  land  in  or  near  the 
Panhandle  for  the  job,  which  required  on  the  part  of  the 
builders  not  much  more  outlay  in  dollars  than  the  number 
of  acres  they  received.  The  state  believed  it  had  made  a 
good  bargain,  but  the  syndicate,  by  developing  the  sup 
posedly  arid  land,  realized  an  enormous  profit. 

About  a  hundred  miles  west  of  San  Antonio  is  the  city  of 
Uvalde,  in  a  region  where  beekeeping  is  so  important  that 
more  honey  is  shipped  from  that  place  than  from  any  other 
place  in  the  United  States.  North  of  Uvalde,  a  few  score 
miles,  in  Kerr  County,  is  Camp  Verde,  an  historic  frontier 
post  founded  in  1855.  Here  the  government  tried  the 
experiment  of  establishing  a  camel  camp.  The  camels  were 
to  carry  dispatches,  and  follow  Indians  in  the  arid  desert 
country  of  western 
Texas.  But  Camp 
Verde  is  in  a  rocky 
section  quite  un- 
suited  to  the  camels' 
soft  feet,  and  the  ex 
periment  was  soon 
abandoned. 

El  Paso  is  the  only 
large  city  in  the 
southern  part  of  the 
country  between  San 
Antonio  and  Los  THE  CAPITOL  AT  AUSTIN 


306 


What  to  See  in  America 


Angeles.  It  is  one  of  the  main  gateways  of  Mexico,  and 
stands  at  the  crossing  of  several  of  the  oldest  highways  es 
tablished  by  white  men  on  this  continent.  The  climate  is 
on  the  whole  delightful.  Its  worst  feature  is  an  occasional 
alkaline  sandstorm  which  sweeps  down  over  the  city.  In 
this  far  western  nook  of  Texas,  is  El  Capitan,  9020  feet  high, 
the  loftiest  mountain  in  the  state. 

In  descending  the  Rio  Grande  from  El  Paso  the  first  really 
important  city  is  Eagle  Pass.     Some  of  the  scenery  on  the 


I 


THE  Rio  GRANDE  AT  EAGLE  PASS 

way  has  great  beauty.  Specially  worthy  of  mention  is  the 
canyon  where  the  turbid  Pecos  approaches  the  Rio  Grande 
between  rock  walls  several  hundred  feet  deep.  Down  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  is  Brownsville.  The  place 
has  only  had  a  railroad  since  1905,  and  the  region  is  in  many 
ways  characteristically  Mexican.  Almost  everything  thrives 
in  the  subtropical  climate  there.  The  fruits  grown  include 
bananas,  oranges,  lemons,  figs,  and  prunes.  Even  in  mid 
winter  the  natives  are  luxuriating  in  such  delicacies  as  green 
peas  and  strawberries  from  their  own  gardens. 


Texas 


307 


A  RUSTIC  HOME 


Somewhat  more  than  a 
hundred  miles  up  the 
coast  is  Corpus  Christi, 
a  popular  resort  for  both 
winter  and  summer.  It 
is  on  a  beautiful  bay, 
has  a  delightful  climate, 
and  claims  to  be  un- 
equaled  for  sea  bathing, 
fishing,  and  boating. 

In  1G85  La  Salle,  the  famous  French  explorer,  established 
a  colony  on  the  Lavaca  River  near  where  it  enters  Mata- 
gorda  Bay.  Two  years  later,  when,  out  of  the  two  hundred 
who  landed  only  forty-five  had  survived,  he  set  forth  to  get 
assistance  from  Canada.  He  had  not  gone  far  when  some 
of  his  little  party  organized  a  mutiny  and  shot  him  from  an 
ambuscade.  They  and  all  the  others  except  two  perished 
before  any  chance  offered  to  return  to  Europe. 

Just  after  the  war  of  1812  ended,  Jean  Lafitte,  the  "  Pirate 
of  the  Gulf,"  built  a  fort  on  the  site  of  the  city  of  Galveston, 
and  a  flourishing  town  grew  up  in  which  his  own  house, 
appropriately  painted  red,  was  the  most  conspicuous  building. 
By  his  men  he  was  known  as  the  "Lord  of  Galveston."  In 
1821  the  United  States  sent  an  expedition  to  break  up  the 
nest  of  pirates,  and  Lafitte  sailed  away  in  his  favorite  vessel, 
the  Pride,  which  mounted  fourteen  guns.  He  never  returned, 
and  a  few  years  later  died  in  Yucatan.  September  8,  1900, 
a  tidal  wave  that  accompanied  a  hurricane  almost  destroyed 
the  place,  costing  directly  or  indirectly  the  lives  of  about 
seven  thousand  people.  But  the  city  was  promptly  rebuilt, 
and  a  great  future  seems  assured.  On  the  outer  side  of  the 
island  that  the  city  occupies,  an  immense  sea  wall  five  and  one 
half  miles  long  has  been  constructed  to  prevent  the  recurrence 
of  such  a  catastrophe.  The  wall  is  seventeen  feet  high,  and 


308  What  to  See  in  America 

rests  on  piles  driven 
forty-four  feet  deep.  On 
the  seaward  side  is  a 
splendid  beach,  smooth 
and  hard,  and  thirty  miles 
long.  This  affords  excel 
lent  motoring,  driving, 
and  walking.  The  gen- 
eral  level  of  the  city, 
which  formerly  was  little  above  the  bay,  has  been  raised  ten 
feet.  Galveston  has  a  notably  fine  harbor,  and  its  com 
merce  is  only  exceeded  in  value  on  our  continent  by  that 
of  New  York.  Its  streets  are  lined  with  palms,  and  these 
graceful  trees  adorn  many  of  the  yards. 

Beaumont  is  the  leading  lumber  town  of  the  state,  but  is 
best  known  because  of  the  tremendous  excitement  caused  by 
the  discovery  of  remarkable  gushing  oil  wells  at  Spindle  Top, 
four  miles  to  the  south,  in  1901.  The  original  well  began  to 
flow  at  the  rate  of  70,000  barrels  a  day.  Many  hundreds 
of  wells  were  put  down  in  the  region  around,  but  the  entire 
Spindle  Top  Pool  proved  to  be  under  an  area  of  about  two 
hundred  acres.  Sour  Lake,  not  far  distant,  which  rivaled 
Beaumont  in  flooding  the  region  with  oil,  has  a  quaint  wood 
land  setting  that  adds  much  to  its  interest. 

Rice  is  becoming  the  chief  product  on  the  Texan  coastal 
prairies.  Between  Beaumont  and  Houston  the  traveler 
sees  it  on  either  side  of  the  railroads  growing  in  many  great 
level  irrigated  fields.  No  other  grain  fills  so  important  a 
place  in  feeding  the  world,  and  we  fall  far  short  of  raising 
enough  to  supply  the  demand  in  our  country. 

A  third  of  the  population  of  the  state  is  found  within  one 
hundred  miles  of  Dallas.  Here  is  the  rich  territory  known 
as  the  "Black  Waxy  Belt,"  and  King  Cotton  is  supreme. 
The  "Texas  snow"  is  seen  in  great  mounds  on  every  hand 


Texas  309 

when  the  cotton  bolls  burst  and  the  picking  has  begun.  The 
present  prosperity  of  Dallas  dates  from  the  coining  of  the 
railroads  after  1870.  Thirty  miles  distant  is  its  twin  city, 
Fort  Worth,  which  in  the  early  days  developed  into  a  great 
market  for  buffalo  hides  and  meat.  More  than  200,000 
buffalo  hides  were  received  there  in  a  single  season.  The 
last  buffalo  in  the  Southwest  disappeared  about  1876. 
Fort  Worth  has  become  a  manufacturing  center,  and  a  no 
table  cattle,  horse,  and  mule  market. 

The  section  of  the  state  known  as  the  Panhandle  is  mostly 
table-land  nearly  four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level. 
Whole  counties  in  it  are  without  a  river  or  a  watercourse  of 
any  kind.  Prairie  dogs,  gophers,  and  jack  rabbits  abound. 
Large  parties  of  men  have  been  organized  to  round  up  the 
jack  rabbits,  and  have  exterminated  them  in  great  numbers. 
The  prairie  dogs  are  troublesome  because,  like  the  jack 
rabbits,  they  devour  the  grass,  and  besides  they  dig  up  the 
earth,  leaving  huge  mounds  of  almost  barren  sand,  often  acres 
in  extent.  Some  of  their  villages  have  a  population  of 
ten  thousand  to  the  square  mile.  Poison  squads  are  now 
employed  by  the  big  ranchmen  to  depopulate  the  dog  towns. 
The  most  picturesque  feature  of  the  Panhandle  is  the  Palo 
Duro  Canyon  in 
Armstrong  County. 
This  is  strangely  sculp 
tured  by  the  torrents 
of  the  rainy  season. 
It  has  a  depth  of  over 
eight  hundred  feet  in 
places,  and  is  wonder 
fully  impressive  in  its 
wild  grandeur  and 
abysmal  solitude.  QN  THE  BORDERS  OF  THE  SpmDLE  Top  OlL 

In  western    Texas,  FIELD 


310 


What  to  See  in  America 


and  extending  into  New  Mexico,  is  the  region  known  as 
the  Staked  Plain.  It  is  the  eastern  part  of  what  was  for 
merly  designated  the  Great  American  Desert.  The  mission 
fathers  who  crossed  this  arid  plain  in  their  peregrinations 


set  up  stakes  with  buffalo  skulls  on  them  to  mark  their 
route  for  others,  and  this  gave  the  plateau  its  name.  It  is 
grazing  land  that  supports  considerable  herds  of  cattle, 
sheep,  goats,  horses,  and  mules,  but  human  beings  are  in 
frequent.  Texas  leads  all  the  states  in  cattle  raising.  For 


Texas  311 

some  years  after  the  Civil  War,  cattle  by  the  million  cov 
ered  its  plains,  and  a  trail  was  opened  to  allow  them  to 
pasture  in  the  summer  to  the  northward,  even  as  far  as 
Montana  and  the  Dakotas.  They  passed  back  and  forth 
over  the  same  trail  that  the  buffalo  had  used  for  centuries. 
The  Texans  have  the  popular  nickname  of  "  Beef-heads  " 
because  the  raising  of  cattle  employs  so  many  of  them.  Texas 
is  an  Indian  word  which  means  tribe. 


WILD  TURKEYS 


XXXV 

Oklahoma 

For  the  traveler  the  attraction  of  Oklahoma  consists  largely 
in  its  newness,  and  in  the  pleasure  of  observing  the  progress 
that  has  been  made  in  the  short  time  since  it  became  a  white 
man's  land.  Wherever  you  go,  the  wonder  is  to  find  so  much 
accomplished  and  such  numbers  of  people  and  large  towns 
where  were  only  prairie  and  Indians  a  few  years  ago.  The 
state's  larger  communities  are  populous  modern  cities,  and  a 
surprisingly  vast  amount  of  land  has  been  subdued  for 
agricultural  purposes.  Among  the  inhabitants  of  the  state 
are  fifty  thousand  Indians,  and  for  each  of  them  an  inalien 
able  homestead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  has  been 
reserved.  Amid  the  tides  of  civilization  flowing  around  them 
and  the  busy  thrift  of  the  whites,  they  seem  incongruous, 
and  at  a  loss  to  make  the  transition  from  the  savage  freedom 
of  their  fathers  to  the  workaday  necessities  of  the  present. 
As  a  rule  they  rent  their  land  to  white  cultivators.  Not  many 
years  ago  they  were  the  only  inhabitants,  for  nearly  all  the 
area  of  the  present  state  consisted  of  Indian  reservations  and 

312 


Oklahoma 


313 


A  COYOTE,  WICHITA  NATIONAL  FOREST 


was  called  Indian 
Territory.  As  our 
country  became 
more  and  more 
settled  it  was 
found  that  this 
Indian  Territory 
had  great  re 
sources.  The 
government  had 
pledged  its  faith 
that  no  white  settlers  would  be  allowed  to  occupy  the  reser 
vations.  But,  by  1800,  violators  of  the  laws  against  such 
encroachment  were  causing  much  disturbance.  The  "  boom 
ers,"  as  they  were  called,  knew  the  value  of  the  land,  and 
repeatedly  marched  in  from  the  Kansas  border.  However, 
they  were  steadily  repulsed  by  the  United  States  officials, 
sometimes  with  the  aid  of  troops.  In  1889,  after  some 
dickering  with  the  Indians,  the  right  was  acquired  to  throw 
a  considerable  section  of  the  country  open  to  the  whites.  At 
noon  on  April  22  the  signal  was  given,  and  no  less  than 
twenty  thousand  adventurers  and  homeseekers,  who  had 
collected  along  the  borders  of  the  new  lands,  made  a  mad 

rush  to  secure  the 
best  farms  and 
town  lots.  Other 
reservations  were 
thrown  open  to 
settlement  in  the 
same  way  from 
time  to  time 
afterward.  The 
development  of 


"GRAND  RAPIDS,"  PLATT  NATIONAL  PA 


the    "Boomers' 


314 


What  to  See  in  America 


Paradise,"  as  Oklahoma  is  popularly  called,  into  a  flourish 
ing  agricultural  and  cattle-breeding  district  has  since  been 
phenomenal.  In  1907  it  became  a  state.  The  first  legis 
lature  met  at  Guthrie,  but  the  capital  was  soon  afterward 
established  at  Oklahoma  City.  The  latter  is  the  largest 
place  in  the  state.  Not  far  away  is  Shawnee  with  its  Kick- 
apob  bark  lodges. 

Near  the  southern  boundary  of  the  state  is  the  Platt 
National  Park,  which  contains  many  sulphur  and  other  springs 
that  have  medicinal  properties.  The  highest  spot  in  Okla 
homa  is  at  the  far  western  boundary  line,  4750  feet.  The 
name  of  the  state  is  Cherokee  for  the  "Home  of  the  Red 
Men." 


GRANITE  BOWLDERS  ON  MT.  SCOTT. 


AMONG  THE  GREAT  LEVEL  FIELDS 

XXXVI 

Kansas 

The  dwellers  on  the  Atlantic  coast  are  apt  to  think  of  Kansas 
as  being  in  the  far  West.  Really  it  is  just  halfway  between 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  and  it  is  also  just  halfway  between 
the  northern  and  southern  boundaries  of  our  country,  so  that 
it  is  the  most  central  state  in  the  Union.  It  measures  more 
than  four  hundred  miles  east  and  west  and  is  half  that  wide. 
This  gives  it  an  area  greater  than  the  combined  areas  of 
the  two  states  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  It  is  on  the  Great 
Plains  that  sweep  gently  upward  to  the  foothills  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  In  its  eastern  part  the  rainfall  is  ample, 
so  that  nearly  all  the  land  is  farmed,  but  as  you  go  farther 
west  the  climate  becomes  increasingly  arid,  and  farms  give 
way  to  scattered  cattle  ranches,  except  where  irrigation  is 
practicable.  Streams  and  groves  of  trees  are  numerous  in 
the  eastern  part,  but  the  watercourses  in  the  western  part 
are  fewer  and  smaller,  and  many  of  them  are  dry  in  summer, 
while  the  principal  trees  are  cottonwoods  which  grow  in 
some  of  the  moister  valleys.  The  surface,  on  the  whole,  is 
a  gently  rolling  prairie  rising  from  a  height  of  seven  hundred 

315 


316  What  to  See  in  America 

and  fifty  feet  on  the  extreme  eastern  edge  to  about  four 
thousand  feet  on  the  western  boundary.  There  are  no 
eminences  rising  more  than  five  hundred  feet  above  the 
general  level.  In  the  southeastern  corner,  just  south  of  the 
Arkansas  River,  is  a  stretch  of  shifting  sand-dunes  several 
miles  wide,  and  one  hundred  miles  long. 

The  state  has  comparatively  little  scenic  attraction,  except 
the  pastoral  charm  always  associated  with  rich-soiled,  well- 
cultivated  farmlands.  This  agricultural  charm  is  nearly 
universal,  but  is  most  pronounced  in  the  eastern  part,  where 
one  finds  a  repose  and  a  humanized  touch  in  the  landscape 
that  is  conferred  by  a  longer  association  with  mankind 
delving  in  the  soil  and  making  permanent  homes.  Besides, 
this  eastern  section  has  seen  a  stirring  past,  and  the  traveler 
finds  satisfaction  in  recalling  the  wild  incidents  of  the  anti- 
slavery  struggle  and  of  the  Civil  War  in  the  vicinity  where 
those  events  occurred. 

The  whites  first  established  themselves  on  Kansas  soil 
when  Fort  Leavenworth  was  erected  in  1827.  Emigrant 
trains  on  the  way  to  California  traversed  the  region  as  early 
as  1844.  Ten  years  later  the  population  was  estimated  at 
seven  hundred,  mainly  congregated  about  the  military 
stations,  the  trading  posts,  and  the  half  dozen  Indian  mission 
schools.  Gradually  the  Indians  were  bargained  out  of  the 
way,  and  partisans  of  the  North  and  South  hurried  thither, 
each  faction  eager  to  control  the  destiny  of  Kansas  in  the 
matter  of  slavery.  The  migration  was  a  strange  mingling 
of  hirelings,  adventurers,  blatherskites,  fanatics,  reformers, 
and  patriots.  Lawrence,  Topeka,  Osawatomie,  and  other 
towns  were  founded  by  colonies  sent  out  by  the  Massachusetts 
Emigrants'  Aid  Society.  Many  men  of  Southern  sympathies 
who  dwelt  in  Missouri  prepared  to  fight  and  vote,  if  need  be, 
in  Kansas. 

In  the  pro-slavery  town  of  Atchison,  one  August  day,  a 


Kansas 


317 


mob   seized   Rev.    Pardee   Butler,   who   avowed    Free  Soil 
opinions,   took   him   to   the   bank  of  the   Missouri   River, 
blackened  his  face,  and  set  him  adrift  with  his  baggage  on 
a  hastily  made  raft  of  cottonwood  logs,  tricked  out  with 
derisive  placards.     After  floating  five  or  six  miles,  escorted 
a  part  of  the  distance  by  citizens  of  the  town  on  the  bank, 
the  voyager  got 
to  land  and   es 
caped.     A    few 
months  later  he 
returned   to   At- 
chison    and    fell 
into  the  hands  of 
a   company  just 
arrived    from 
South    Carolina, 
who  gave  him  a 
coat  of  tar  and 
feathers. 

In  December,  1855,  Lawrence  was  besieged  by  the  Mis- 
sourians.  The  siege  was  brought  to  an  end  by  a  sudden 
change  of  weather.  A  tremendous  sleet  storm  extinguished 
the  military  ardor  of  the  invaders,  and  they  sullenly  retired. 
Hostilities  were  resumed  in  the  spring.  A  pro-slavery  force 
entered  Lawrence,  burned  two  or  three  buildings  and  pillaged 
stores  and  homes. 

In  the  autumn  of  1855  John  Brown  reached  Kansas  and 
joined  five  of  his  sons  who  had  settled  at  Osawatomie.  In 
his  opinion  the  time  had  come  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  slave 
system.  He  and  seven  others  made  a  foray  on  the  night 
of  May  24,  and  dragged  five  men  from  their  cabins  to 
sudden  death  at  Dutch  Henrys  Crossing  on  Pottawatomie 
Creek.  Much  belligerency  followed .  The  "  Westport  Sharp 
shooters,  "the  "Bloomington  Rifles," the  "Lawrence  Stubs," 


THE  RIVERSIDE  AT  LAWRENCE 


318 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  "Blue  Mound  Infantry,"  and  the  "Wakarusa  Boys" 
were  all  active.  Palmyra  was  looted,  and  also  that  "Aboli 
tion  Hole,"  Osawatomie,  and  some  lives  were  sacrificed.  At 
Leavenworth  a  Missouri  ruffian  made  and  won  a  bet  of  six 
dollars  against  a  pair  of  boots  that  he  would  scalp  an  Abolition 
ist  within  two  hours.  On  August  30, 1856,  Osawatomie  was 
attacked.  Six  free-state  men  were  killed,  and  only  four 

cabins  escaped  the  torch. 
Brown  went  North,  but 
returned  a  year  later  and 
made  an  expedition  across 
the  Missouri  line.  The  raid 
ers  destroyed  considerable 
property,  liberated  eleven 
slaves,  and  killed  a  slave 
owner.  Brown  successfully 
piloted  the  negroes  north 
ward,  and  Kansas  saw  him 
no  more. 

Anarchy  had  subsided 
into  a  rudimental  order  by 
1859,  but  with  the  out 
break  of  the  Civil  War 
there  was  again  a  rank  growth  of  general  freebooting.  This 
culminated  in  Quantrell's  Raid  on  Lawrence  in  the  summer 
of  1863.  Buildings  were  rifled  and  burned,  and  one  hundred 
and  eighty-three  men  of  the  town  were  killed.  In  the  half 
dozen  years  after  the  war  Kansas  suffered  from  Indian  hos 
tilities  in  which  fully  a  thousand  citizens  lost  their  lives. 
The  year  1874  is  one  long  to  be  remembered  for  its  plague 
of  locusts  which  desolated  large  districts,  devouring  fruits, 
vegetables,  and  grains.  Even  worse  was  the  drought  of 
1879  and  1880,  when  destitute  settlers  went  away  by  thou 
sands,  carried  free  by  the  railroads. 


PULPIT  ROCK  NEAR  CARNEIRO 


Kansas  319 

Kansas  City  is  the  largest  place  in  the  state.  Topeka  has 
been  the  capital  ever  since  Kansas  became  a  state  in  1861. 
It  is  built  on  both  sides  of  the  Kansas  River,  a  stream  noted 
for  its  floods.  In  the  great  flood  of  June,  1903,  the  water 
was  over  seven  feet  deep  in  the  Union  Pacific  Station  at 
Topeka.  There  was  great  loss  of  life  and  property,  and  the 
river's  course  shifted  in  many  places. 

Dodge,  in  western  Kansas,  is  a  model  of  tranquillity  now, 
but  in  earlier  days  was  widely  known  as  the  "  wickedest  town 
in  the  country."  For  "all-around  cussedness"  it  was  un 
excelled.  It  was  founded  in  1872,  three  years  after  the 
Santa  Fe  Railroad  had  begun  to  be  built  westward  from 
Topeka.  Money  was  plentiful,  and  a  paper  of  pins,  a  shave, 
or  a  drink  cost  twenty-five  cents.  No  smaller  coin  was  in 
circulation.  The  town's  first  calaboose  was  a  well  fifteen 
feet  deep  into  which  drunks  were  lowered  to  stay  until  they 
sobered  off.  Sometimes  this  unique  prison  contained  half  a 
dozen  inmates.  When  Dodge  came  into  being  it  was  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  buffalo  country.  A  good  hunter  could  make 
$100  a  day  slaughtering  the  buffaloes.  Their  ancient  range 
extended  from  the  Alleghenies  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
completely  across  the  United  States  north  into  Canada  and 
south  into  Mexico.  Early  travelers  in  the  West  have  seen 
the  prairie  black  from  horizon  to  horizon  with  the  shaggy 
monsters. 

Kansas  ranks  first  among  the  states  as  a  producer  of 
wheat.  It  bears  an  Indian  name  which  means  "Smoky 
Water."  People  call  it  the  "Sunflower  State"  because  of 
the  abundance  of  wild  sunflowers  there.  The  nickname  for 
its  inhabitants  is  "Jay  Hawkers,"  a  sobriquet  applied  in 
early  times  to  those  who  carried  on  guerrilla  warfare  in  the 
region.  It  attains  its  greatest  height,  4135  feet,  about  mid 
way  on  the  western  boundary. 


320 


What  to  See  in  America 


A  SPRING  FIELD 

XXXVII 
Nebraska 

Nebraska's  name  is  of  Indian  derivation,  and  means  Shallow 
Water.  This  very  accurately  describes  the  chief  river  of  the 
state  —  the  Platte.  Nebraska  is  popularly  called  the 
Tree-planter  State,  a  reference  to  its  transformation  from 
naked  prairie,  which  was  almost  universal  when  the  whites 
began  to  settle  there.  The  people  are  nicknamed  "Ante 
lopes." 

In  1851  a  gold-seeker,  who  saw  more  gold  in  paddling 
passengers  across  the  murky  Missouri  than  in  washing  the 
yellow  sands  of  the  California  rivers,  established  a  ferry  at 
Council  Bluffs.  Two  years  later  a  company  was  organized 
to  handle  the  ferry  business,  and  laid  out  a  town  site  on  the 
Nebraska  shore.  The  name  given  to  the  prospective  town 
was  Omaha,  which  was  the  name  of  a  tribe  of  Indians  that  was 
wont  to  camp  on  a  neighboring  creek.  On  the  broad  plateau 
overlooking  the  river  three  hundred  and  twenty  blocks  were 
Y  321 


322 


What  to  See  in  America 


staked  out,  with  streets  one  hundred  feet  wide.  One  square 
on  the  top  of  the  most  conspicuous  hill  was  reserved  with  the 
intention  that  the  future  State  House  should  stand  there. 
At  this  time  Nebraska  had  no  civilized  inhabitants  except 
soldiers  sent  to  keep  the  Indians  in  order,  and  the  missionaries 
and  fur-traders.  Nor  did  the  population  increase  rapidly 
until  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  begun.  Omaha  is  the 
largest  city  in  the  state,  and  one  of  the  chief  gateways  to  the 
West.  At  South  Omaha  are  great  stockyards  and  packing 
houses.  Just  north  of  the  city  is  Fort  Omaha,  an  important 
signal  service,  balloon,  and  wireless  experiment  station  of  the 
United  States  Army.  Omaha  was  the  first  large  city  to  adopt 
the  Commission  form  of  government.  When  the  Mormons 
were  preparing  for  their  long  march  across  the  plains  they 
established  themselves  in  winter  quarters  at  a  point  about  six 
miles  north  of  the  present  Omaha,  arid  sheltered  themselves 
in  over  seven  hundred  log  cabins  and  dugouts.  P>om  there 
a  first  party  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  led  by  Brigham 
Young  set  out  on  the  march  westward  with  seventy-three 
wagons  drawn  by  horses  and  oxen  in  April,  1847.  You  find 
on  that  spot  now  a  quaint,  sleepy  village,  chiefly  interesting 

for  a  fewr  ancient 
landmarks. 

At  Omaha,  on 
December  21 , 
1863,  ground  was 
broken  for  the 
construction  of 
the  Union  Pa 
cific,  the  first 
American  cross- 
continent  rail 
road.  Its  name 
SCO-ITS  BLUFF  AND  PLATTE  RIVER  was  based  on  the 


Nebraska  323 

belief  that  the  railroad  would  hind  the  Union  together.  The 
route  it  follows  is  the  same  used  by  the  buffalo,  gold  seekers, 
pony  express,  and  overland  stage  coach.  It  is  the  shortest 
way,  and  the  most  free  from  barriers.  The  first  through 
train  for  San  Francisco  left  Omaha  in  September,  1870. 
The  railroad  was  sold  at  Omaha,  on  November  1,  1897,  in 
the  "  world's  greatest  auction."  It  brought  $57,564,932.70, 
which  was  a  trifle  less  than  half  the  cost  of  construction. 

The  Oregon  pioneers  went  with  the  first  wagons  over  the 
mountains  to  the  Pacific  in  1843.  From  the  time  that  gold 
was  discovered  in  California  until  the  completion  of  the 
railroad  the  Overland  Trail  was  in  full  tide  of  life.  One 
hundred  thousand  travelers  passed  over  it  yearly.  The 
Lincoln  Highway,  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  which  is 
designed  as  a  memorial  to  the  martyr  President,  follows 
the  same  trail.  This  improved  thoroughfare  is  3389  miles 
long,  and  traverses  thirteen  states. 

While  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  being  built,  all  the 
Indian  tribes  on  the  plains  united  their  forces  for  the  avowed 
purpose   of   exterminating   the   whites,    and    they   devoted 
especial  attention  to  the  railroad.     At  first  they  did  not 
know    what    to 
make  of  the  loco 
motive,  but  they 
soon  gained  cour 
age    to    try    to 
stop  a  train  by 
stretching  across 
the  track  a  lar 
iat  held  by  thirty 
braves  on  each 
side.    This  was  a 
disastrous  holdup 
for  the  red  men.  CROW  BUTTE 


324 


What  to  See  in  America 


JAIL  AND  COURTHOUSE  ROCK 


Near  the  end  of  the  track  was  a  community  of  something 

like  three  thousand  persons  living  in  tents  and  shacks.     The 

,!&  town  was  moved  for 

ward  at  frequent  in 
tervals,  and  because 
of  this  and  its  gen 
eral  character  was 
known  as  "Hell  on 
Wheels."  Aside  from 
the  railroad  employ 
ees  and  a  few  store 
keepers  the  popula 
tion  consisted  mainly 

of  gamblers  and  desperadoes  and  the  very  worst  class  of 

women.     The  chief  article  of  commerce  was  vile  whiskey. 
Omaha  was  the  territorial  capital  of  Nebraska,  but  with 

the  investure  of  statehood  in  1867  a  seat  of  government  was 

carved  anew  on  the  virgin  prairie  fifty  miles  to  the  southwest 

and  christened  Lincoln. 

Eighty-four  miles  up  the  Platte  from  Omaha  is  Columbus. 

In  1864  it  was  urged  that  this  place,  which  was  then  a 

straggling  frontier  settlement,  be  made  the  capital  of  the 

United  States,  because 

it  was  exactly  halfway 

between  the  east  and 

west  coasts  on  the  main 

transcontinental  route. 

Beyond    Columbus    is 

a  perfectly   straight 

stretch  of  railroad 

track  for  forty  miles. 
Vast  herds  of  buffalo 

used  to  cross  the  Platte  at  Grand  Island  on  their  spring  and 

fall  migrations.     They  abounded  to  such  a  degree  that  emi- 


A  SOD  HOUSE  IN  THE  SANDHILLS 


Nebraska  325 

grants  on  the  old  trail  often  had  to  stop  while  the  buffalo 
were  crossing  the  road.  In  the  days  of  the  early  pioneers 
an  Indian  would  trade  a  buffalo  robe  for  a  cup  of  sugar  or 
a  yard  of  red  flannel.  As  recently  as  1872,  Grand  Duke 
Alexis  of  Russia,  with  "Buffalo  Bill"  and  Generals  Custer 
and  Sheridan,  started  in  chase  of  buffalo  from  Willow  Island, 
which  is  beside  the  Platte  halfway  across  the  state. 

In  the  western  part  of  Nebraska  is  a  considerable  strip  of 
desert  full  of  rocky  pinnacles  and  rich  in  fossil  remains,  but 
as  a  whole  the  state  is  a  rich  farming  region,  where  wheat, 
alfalfa,  and  corn  all  flourish.  Much  the  same  scenes  and 
the  same  charm  of  agricultural  prosperity  exist  in  the  three 
neighboring  states  of  Iowa,  Missouri,  and  Kansas,  which  with 
Nebraska  constitute  the  nation's  "big  four"  from  the  farm 
point  of  view.  The  highest  spot  in  Nebraska  is  in  the  south 
western  corner,  5350  feet. 


STATE  HOUSE,  PIERRE 


XXXVIII 

South  Dakota 

South  Dakota  is  one  quarter  larger  than  all  New  England. 
Its  principal  crops  are  corn  and  wheat.  Cattle  raising  is  an 
important  industry.  Thousands  of  cattle  subsist  through  the 
entire  winter  without  shelter,  and  without  food  other  than 
the  prairie  grass,  which  cures  into  good  hay  while  standing, 
and  affords  excellent  grazing  the  year  round. 

The  first  authentic  exploration  in  the  region  was  done  by 
the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  in  1804.  An  American  Fur 
Company  steamboat  which  ascended  the  Missouri  in  1832 
had  among  its  passengers  the  well-known  painter  and 
ethnologist,  George  Catlin.  The  Fur  Company  founded 
Fort  Pierre,  and  Catlin  spent  several  weeks  at  the  fort 
studying  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Indians.  The 
present-day  city  of  Pierre  is  the  capital  of  the  state.  Several 
small  settlements  were  made  east  of  the  Missouri  about 
I860,  but  their  growth  was  much  hampered  by  the  Civil  War 
and  by  Indians.  The  state's  most  populous  city  is  Sioux 

326 


South  Dakota 


327 


Falls,  which  derives  large  water  power  from  the  Big  Sioux 
River  and  has  extensive  flour  mills. 

In  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state  is  the  noted  health 
resort  of  Hot  Springs.  The  springs,  which  number  nearly 
one  hundred,  were  a  favorite  resort  of  the  aborigines.  Now 
they  draw  to  them  the  modern  Indians  and  hosts  of  whites. 
A  dozen  miles  north 
is  Wind  Cave  Na 
tional  Park,  sixteen 
square  miles  of  pine- 
covered  hills.  The 
cavern,  which  is  the 
park's  special  attrac 
tion,  was  discovered 
in  1881.  It  has  re 
cesses  that  have  been 
traced  for  ninety-six 
miles.  Its  name  is 
derived  from  the 
strong  air  currents  at 
the  entrance,  which 
sometimes  blow  out 
ward  and  sometimes 
inward.  Bridges  and 
stairways  and  paths 

through  the  mysterious  passages  permit  visitors  to  view  the 
cave's  splendors.  Some  of  its  passages  are  five  hundred 
feet  below  the  surface,  and  they  wind  about  over  and  under 
each  other  very  curiously.  The  temperature  at  no  time 
rises  above  forty-seven  degrees  or  falls  below  forty  degrees. 
The  park  is  the  permanent  home  of  a  herd  of  buffalo.  Other 
animals  such  as  elk,  antelope,  and  deer  are  to  be  seen  there 
also.  Somewhat  to  the  east  of  this  section,  between  the 
head  waters  of  the  White  and  Cheyenne  rivers,  are  the  fa- 


PULPIT,  BIG  BAD  LANDS 


328  What  to  See  in  America 

mous  Bad  Lands  —  giant,  deeply  worn  masses  of  bare  rock 
and  clay  destitute  of  vegetation. 

South  Dakota  is  called  the  "Coyote  State."  It  has 
also  been  called  the  "Blizzard  State."  The  blizzards, 
which  are  storms  of  fine  snow  driven  by  the  north  wind,  used 
to  frighten  the  first  settlers;  but  now  that  the  roads  are 
well  marked  they  have  lost  their  terror.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
they  are  infrequent. 

Wind  Cave  and  Hot  Springs  are  on  the  borders  of  the  Black 
Hills,  which  are  probably  the  most  interesting  portion  of  the 
state.  These  Hills  are  an  outlying  group  of  the  Rockies. 
Their  name  was  given  them  by  the  early  settlers  because  the 
dark  needles  of  the  yellow  pines  make  them  appear  black  as 
seen  from  a  distance.  The  region  round  about  for  hundreds 
of  miles  is  a  monotonous  rolling  country  that  offers  a  striking 

contrast  to  this  medley 
of  craggy  uplifts  arid  ir 
regular  valleys.  Harney 
Peak,  the  monarch  of  the 
Black  Hills  group  and 
the  loftiest  elevation  in 
the  state,  attains  a  height 
of  7242  feet.  It  is  easily 
reached  by  trail  from  the 
attractive  summer  resort 
of  Sylvan  Lake,  three 
miles  distant.  Sylvan 
Lake  is  only  five  miles 
II  north  of  Custer,  and 
twelve  miles  west  of 
Custer  is  Jewel  Cave,  a 
limestone  cavern  of  con 
siderable  extent  and 
PANNING  FOR  GOLD  much  beauty.  On  the 


South  Dakota 


329 


slopes  and  mountains  of  the  Black  Hills  grow  forests  of  pine, 
and  in  the  vales  are  pasturage  and  occasional  cultivated  fields 
and  rude  farmhouses.  The  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Black 
Hills  is  usually  attributed  to  a  government  exploring  expedi 
tion  which  spent  the  summer  of  1874  in  the  region ;  but  even 
at  that  time  a  good  many  prospectors  were  roaming  around 
there  entirely  independent  of  the  troops.  The  prospectors 
found  gold,  and  so  did  the  troops,  and  both  told  stories  of 
wealth  in  the  Hills  that  promptly  brought  a  rush  of  the 
floating  population  of  the  frontier  and  of  numerous  other 
fortune  seekers  from  the  older  Eastern  states.  The  fact 
that  they  would  be  trespassers  on  the  choicest  hunting 
ground  belonging  to  the  Sioux  Indians  was  no  serious 
deterrent  either  as  a  matter  of  justice  or  of  danger.  Efforts 
on  the  part  of  the  gov-  p, 
eminent  to  keep  the 
miners  out  met  with  little 
success,  and  the  difficulty 
was  finally  solved,  two 
years  later,  by  the  pur 
chase  of  the  tract  from 
the  Indians.  The  big 
strike  of  gold  at  Dead- 
wood  was  made  that  year, 
toward  the  end  of  winter 
while  there  was  still  snow 
on  the  ground.  Custer 
was  then  the  big  town  in 
the  Black  Hills.  There 
were  1400  buildings  in  the 
place;  yet  almost  in  a 
night  it  was  depopulated. 
Only  fourteen  persons  re 
mained  in  the  town.  THE  BLACK  HILLS  AT  DEADWOOD 


330  What  to  See  in  America 

The  placer  mines  of  Deadwood  Gulch  and  the  tributary 
ravines  were  very  remunerative  for  a  short  time,  and  the 
town  that  grew  up  there  was  the  metropolis  of  the  Black  Hills. 
Its  situation  is  particularly  piquant  and  interesting.  The 
homes  cling  along  the  steep  declivities  of  the  gulch,  and 
creep  far  up  every  side  ravine.  In  the  depths  of  the  hollow 
are  the  railroads  and  a  swift  muddy  creek,  business  blocks, 
mines,  shops,  and  other  buildings  all  jumbled  together,  and 
entirely  lacking  elbowroom.  Round  about  rise  lofty  wooded 
ridges  with  here  and  there  a  perpendicular  or  rock-crowned 
hilltop.  In  the  city  cemetery,  high  on  the  terrace  of  a  bluff, 
are  two  brownstone  monuments  that  have  a  peculiar  interest. 
Each  is  a  full-length  statue  of  an  early  celebrity,  and  each  is 
protected  by  an  inclosing  coop  of  chicken  wire  fencing  from 
the  affection  of  those  who  would  like  to  chip  off  mementos. 
One  is  of  a  minister  who  was  killed  by  Indians  while  on  his 
way  to  preach  at  a  neighboring  village.  He  knew  the  danger, 
yet  duty  called  and  he  took  the  risk,  and  now  he  is  one  of  the 
Black  Hills  saints.  The  other  statue  is  of  a  still  more  popular 
hero—  "Wild  Bill."  He  served  as  a  scout  in  the  Civil  War, 
and  later  in  the  same  capacity  on  the  plains.  There  was 
no  fear  in  his  make-up,  but  he  well  knew  that  he  had  enemies, 
and  he  took  the  precaution,  whenever  he  sat  down  indoors,  to 
place  himself  with  his  back  to  the  wall.  This  did  not  save 
him  from  a  violent  end,  for  while  on  a  visit  to  the  region  he 
was  shot  dead  as  he  was  playing  in  a  gambling  place.  His 
statue  represents  a  bareheaded,  long-haired  plainsman, 
holding  a  pistol  in  one  hand  and  about  to  draw  another  from 
his  cartridge  belt.  The  pupils  of  his  eyes  are  painted  blue. 

The  Black  Hills  country  has  been  characterized  as  "the 
richest  hundred  miles  square  on  earth."  But  its  only 
really  notable  mine  is  the  great  "Homestake"  near  Dead- 
wood.  A  few  miles  to  the  north,  at  Spearfish,  is  a  canyon 
which  rivals  those  of  the  Colorado. 


VILLAGE  Cows  STARTING  FOR  PASTURE,  JAMES  RIVER  VALLEY 

XXXIX 

North  Dakota 

The  first  settlement  in  the  "Great  Cereal  State,"  as  North 
Dakota  is  called,  was  made  about  1780  in  the  extreme 
northeast  corner  at  Pembina  by  Canadians.  Thirty  years 
later  a  fort  was  built  there  by  the  British,  who  thought  the 
spot  was  in  their  own  territory.  The  Red  River  of  the  North 
forms  the  state's  entire  eastern  boundary.  Few  regions  in 
the  world  are  more  fertile  than  this,  and  the  rich  black  soil 
which  extends  in  almost  unbroken  regularity  across  the 
valley  is  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  Ages  ago  the 
great  glacier  that  overspread  the  northern  part  of  the 
continent  dammed  the  valley  so  that  the  river  could  not 
flow  in  its  natural  channel  to  the  Arctic  Ocean.  A  lake  was 
formed  which  was  larger  than  all  the  present  Great  Lakes 
put  together.  After  the  ice  had  melted  entirely  from  the 
valley,  the  river  flowed  again  northward,  and  the  lake  dis 
appeared.  The  soil  of  the  wheat  region  is  the  sediment  of 
this  ancient  lake.  A  few  years  ago  wheat  nearly  monopolized 

331 


332 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  Red  River  Valley,  hut  now  the  crops  are  more  diversified, 
and  instead  of  an  unbroken  stand  of  wheat  stretching  to  the 
horizon  there  are  other  grains  and  flax  interspersed.  One 
North  Dakota  farm  in  this  valley  contains  over  30,000  acres. 
It  is  divided  into  six  parts,  with  farm  buildings  on  each. 
In  the  planting  season  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  and 
three  hundred  horses  are  employed,  and  nearly  as  many 
in  the  harvesting.  It  is  no  infrequent  sight  on  the 
"Bonanza"  farms  to  see  a  row  of  twenty  or  more  plows, 
harrows,  seeders,  or  reapers  working  at  the  same  time. 
Continuous  furrows  may  be  plowed  for  miles  in  a  straight 
line.  The  wheat  harvest  begins  about  August  1,  when 
the  enormous  fields  of  yellow  grain  are  exceptionally  beau 
tiful. 

Another  section  with  superlative  fertility  and  productive 
ness  is  that  around  what  is  known  as  "Jirntown"  in  the 
"Jim"  River  Valley,  but  which  you  will  find  on  the  map 
as  Jamestown. 

The  state,  as  the  white  men  found  it,  consisted  of  one 

vast  open  range,  which  fur 
nished  grazing  in  abundance 
for  the  herds  of  wild  animals 
that  roamed  over  it.  During 
a  considerable  period  after 
ward  the  region  was  consid 
ered  only  suitable  for  the 
pasturage  of  cattle,  horses, 
and  sheep,  as  the  annual 
rainfall  seemed  too  small  for 
raising  crops.  The  discovery 
that  by  proper  methods  of 
cultivation  most  of  the  mois 
ture  in  the  soil  could  be  con- 
A  FARMYARD  served  and  rendered  available 


North  Dakota 


333 


THE  BATTLESHIP,  PYRAMID  PARK 


for  agriculture, 
has  resulted  in 
the  fencing  and 
farming  of  nearly 
all  the  land. 

The  last  of  the 
Dakota  bison 
were  killed  by  In 
dians  in  1883. 
Twenty  years 
later  there  were 
only  thirty-four 
wild  bison  in  the  United  States,  but  in  parks  there  were 
nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine.  It  is  estimated  that  before 
1890  the  bones  of  7,000,000  buffalo  were  shipped  for  fertilizer 
from  North  Dakota  alone. 

One  of  North  Dakota's  beauty  spots  is  Sullys  Hill  National 
Park,  which  has  an  area  of  seven  hundred  and  eighty  acres 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  state  on  the  shore  of  Devils 
Lake  near  Fort  Totten.  The  lake  is  fifty  miles  long  and 
from  two  to  eight  miles  wide.  It  affords  a  good  bathing 
beach  and  excellent  opportunities  for  yachting,  and  there 
is  much  charm  in  its  woods  and  rugged  hills. 

Fargo,  the  state's  largest  place,  is  a  busy  grain-trading 
city  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Red  River.  Bismarck,  the 
capital,  was  settled  in  1873.  It  has  about  as  great  a  variation 
of  temperature  as  any  location  in  the  country.  In  summer 
the  thermometer  occasionally  registers  over  one  hundred 
degrees  and  in  winter  it  sometimes  goes  more  than  forty 
degrees  below  zero.  In  the  sparsely  settled  district  farther 
west  large  numbers  of  prairie  dogs  may  be  seen.  At  Belfield 
begin  the  "Bad  Lands,"  a  name  that  refers  to  the  difficulty 
of  travel  there  and  not  to  the  soil,  which  affords  excellent 
grazing.  Another  name  for  the  region  is  Pyramid  Park. 


334  What  to  See  in  America 

Steep  many-tinted  buttes  carved  by  wind,  frost,  and  rain 
rise  from  the  plain  in  all  directions  and  have  many  fantastic 
shapes  and  greatly  variegated  coloring.  The  most  elevated 
point  in  the  state  is  in  Bowman  County  in  the  southwestern 
corner,  3500  feet  high. 

Dakota  is  an  Indian  word.  It  means  allied,  and  refers 
to  a  great  confederation  of  tribes  that  inhabited  this  section 
of  the  country.  The  people  of  North  Dakota  are  nicknamed 
"Sioux." 


BLACKFEET  CAMP  ON  Two  MEDICINE  LAKE 


XL 

Montana 

Montana  is  the  third  largest  state  in  the  Union.  It  has  a 
Spanish  name  which  means  Mountain  Land.  The  name 
fairly  describes  it,  and  hence  its  popular  name  of  "Stub- 
toe  State"  seems  appropriate.  Its  highest  mountain  is 
Granite  Peak  in  the  southern  part  not  far  from  the  Wyoming 
line,  with  an  altitude  of  12,850  feet.  Soon  after  passing 
Billings,  on  a  clear  day,  the  traveler,  going  west  on  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  gets  his  first  glimpse  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  or  "Shining  Mountains"  as  they  used  to  be 
called  in  the  early  descriptions.  They  are  directly  ahead, 
nearly  one  hundred  miles  away. 

Within  a  few  years  after  Lewis  and  Clark  made  their 
famous  expedition  across  the  continent,  fur  companies 
established  trading  posts  on  various  rivers  in  what  is  now 
Montana.  The  most  important  of  these  posts  was  Fort 

335 


336 


What  to  See  in  America 


Benton  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Missouri.     This 
came  into  being  in  1846. 

Gold  was  first  discovered  in  Montana  on  a  small  creek 
west  of  the  main  divide  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  about  forty 
miles  from  Helena  in  1852,  near  the  present  town  of  Deer 
Lodge.  The  first  mine  was  opened  in  1861.  Helena,  the 
capital,  sprang  into  existence  as  the  result  of  finding  ex 
traordinarily  rich  gold-bearing  placers  where  the  city  now 
stands.  A  party  of  four  prospectors  who  had  gone  west  over 
the  adjacent  Continental  Divide  had  turned  back  after  a 
season's  fruitless  effort.  They  decided  to  make  a  final  attempt 
to  discover  gold  on  a  small  creek,  where  some  indications  of 
precious  metal  had  been  discovered  on  the  outward  journey. 
As  one  of  them  expressed  it,  "That  little  gulch  on  the 
Prickly  Pear  is  our  last  chance."  Thus  the  place  became 

known  to  the  party  as 
Last  Chance  Gulch  be 
fore  the  actual  finding 
of  gold  in  paying  quan 
tities  that  midsummer 
of  1864.  The  news  of 
the  discovery  spread 
far  and  wide,  and  a 
town  came  into  being 
which  grew  with  the 
rapidity  characteristic 
of  placer  camps.  At 
first  the  chief  overland 
transportation  route 
was  the  Missouri 
River,  by  which  steam 
ers  could  reach  Fort 
Benton  during  high 
LAKE  MCDONALD  water.  But  the  period 


Montana 


337 


of  high  water  did  not  last  much  more  than  a  month,  and 
steamers  were  often  forced  to  stop  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow 
stone  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant.  In  1883  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad  was  completed  to  Helena.  The 
arrival  of  the  first  regular  train  on  July  4  was  the  occasion 
of  a  great  celebration,  and  on  that  day  the  first  "bullion 
train"  departed  carrying  1,000,000  pounds  of  silver  from 
Montana's  mines.  Helena  now  ranks  among  the  wealthiest 


SEELEY  LAKE 

cities  of  its  size  in  the  world.  Gold  to  the  value  of  $40,000,- 
000  has  been  taken  from  Last  Chance  Gulch,  which  runs 
through  the  city. 

The  same  year  that  gold  brought  Helena  into  being  it 
put  Butte  on  the  map.  It  was  discovered  near  Butte's 
present  Main  Street,  and  a  great  deal  of  the  precious  metal 
was  taken  out  by  placer  mining  in  the  next  few  years.  Later 
the  district  became  a  large  producer  of  silver.  The  railroad 
arrived  in  1881,  and  then  the  copper  industry  developed 
rapidly  at  Butte.  For  a  time  the  smelting  was  all  done  near 
the  city,  but  presently  there  was  constructed  at  Anaconda, 


338 


What  to  See  in  America 


twenty-seven  miles  away,  a  plant  which  has  hecome  one  of 
the  largest  copper  smelters  in  existence.  The  Butte  district 
is  unrivaled  in  its  total  output  of  copper,  and  a  large  part 
of  this  copper  has  come  from  an  area  of  only  a  few  square 
miles.  So  far  as  value  is  concerned,  Butte's  metalliferous 
area  has  been  the  most  productive  of  its  size  on  the  globe, 

and  the  city 
boasts  with  rea 
son  that  it  is  the 
greatest  of  all 
mining  camps. 
When  the  smelt- 


RANGER  ON  MT.  SILCOX 


ers  were  pouring 
out  their  de 
structive  fumes 
there  was  not  a 
spear  of  grass  nor 
a  green  leaf  vis 
ible  in  the  vicin 
ity,  but  now  that  most  of  the  ore  is  smelted  at  a  distance 
the  valley  is  recovering  some  of  its  vegetation.  Great  shaft 
buildings  and  tall  smokestacks  rise  from  the  mouths  of  the 
copper  mines  in  and  about  the  town,  and  the  rocks  under 
ground  are  honeycombed  with  workings,  some  of  which 
reach  a  depth  of  three  thousand  feet,  and  in  which  labor 
goes  on  day  an4  night  without  cessation.  West  of  the  city 
is  the  conical  hill,  Big  Butte,  from  which  the  place  derives 
its  name. 

Montana  can  be  seen  in  a  very  different  aspect  in  the 
Gallatin  Valley,  fifty  miles  to  the  east,  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  This  valley  is  known  as  the 
"Garden  Spot"  of  the  state.  It  is  about  thirty  miles  long 
and  fifteen  broad.  Much  of  it  is  as  level  as  a  floor,  but 
along  the  borders  are  big  softly  rounded  hills  with  a  back- 


Montana 


339 


MISSOULA  NATIONAL  FOREST 


ground  of  im 
pressive  moun 
tain  ranges.  The 
soil  is  justly 
celebrated  for  its 
fertility,  and 
prosperity  is 
general.  Many 
of  the  farmers 
stay  on  their 
farms  only  dur 
ing  the  season  that  the  crops  need  attention,  and  spend  the 
winter  in  homes  that  they  own  "in  town,"  which  usually 
means  Bozeman,  the  metropolis  of  the  valley.  Bozeman, 
however,  is  not  much  more  than  a  snug  country  village,  em 
bowered  in  trees,  and  quite  suggestive  of  sociable  serenity. 
On  the  uplands  a  good  deal  of  "dry  farming"  is  done,  and 
excellent  crops  are  produced  where  formerly  only  grazing 
was  deemed  possible.  Dry  farming  does  not  mean  that 
crops  can  be  raised  in  soil  devoid  of  moisture,  but  that  by 
proper  treatment  the  soil  is  made  to  conserve  its  moisture 
for  crop  nourish-  - 

ment  instead  of  £fit 

giving  it  off  into 
the  air.  The 
land  is  plowed  in 
the  spring.  Then 
it  is  thoroughly 
disked  and  har 
rowed,  and  after 
every  rain  it  is 
harrowed  again. 
By  keeping  the 

surface  pulver-  EMIGRANT  PEAK 


340  What  to  See  in  America 

ized  a  sort  of  blanket 
is  formed  which  pre 
vents  the  moisture 
from  escaping.  Fi 
nally  wheat  is  sown, 
and  the  land  then 
takes  care  of  itself 
until  harvest  time. 

In  this  vicinity  the 
Missouri   River   has 

its    source.     After 
N,NE  P.PK  RKSEmvom  AND  MISa,ON  RANGE       f,ow;ng  fiye  hmdred 

miles  and  gathering  to  itself  the  waters  of  many  tributaries 
it  makes  the  vertical  plunge  of  sixty  feet  known  as  Black 
Eagle  Falls.  Four  miles  farther  down  is  Rainbow  Falls, 
where  the  thousand  foot  breadth  of  river  drops  fifty  feet. 
Another  mile  takes  you  to  Crooked  Falls,  and  a  few  miles 
more  to  Great  Falls,  where,  after  preliminary  rapids  between 
soaring  precipices,  the  river  makes  a  sudden  magnificent 
leap  of  ninety  feet  down  into  gulfs  of  gray  mist.  In  a  dis 
tance  of  sixteen  miles  it  descends  four  hundred  feet.  Near 
Rainbow  Falls  is  the  Great  Spring  Fall,  formed  by  a  spring 
bursting  from  the  bank  of  the  river  twenty  feet  above 
the  channel.  At  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Missouri  is 
Benton.  The  only  remains  of  the  old  fort  that  stood  there 
in  the  fur-trading  and  gold-rush  days  are  a  little  square 
adobe  blockhouse  and  a  few  crumbling  walls.  Some  interest 
ing  features  farther  down  the  river  are  Sentinel  Rock,  a 
conical  shaft  that  rises  from  the  stream  to  a  height  of  three 
hundred  feet ;  Elbow  Rapids,  at  the  base  of  the  great  Hole- 
in-the-Wall  Rock;  and  the  turbulent  and  rocky  Dead 
Man's  Rapids. 

ID  northern  Montana  is  the  last  of  the  open  range.     It 
includes  a  tract  that  extends  three  hundred  miles  from  North 


Montana 


341 


Dakota  to  Fort  Benton  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  Canada  down  nearly  to  the  Yellowstone  River.  The 
area  is  greater  than  that  of  the  combined  states  of  Vermont, 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode 
Island.  The  single  county  of  Dawson,  which  is  in  this  tract, 
is  bigger  than  the  state  of  Maryland ;  but  while  Maryland 
has  2,000,000  people,  Dawson  County  has  less  than  8000. 
Settlers  steered  clear  of  these  vast  northern  plains,  which 
were  believed  to  be  too  arid  for  farming.  The  plains, 
however,  had  on  them  an  abundance  of  wild  grass  that  not 
only  supplied  rich  grazing  in  summer,  but  standing  hay, 
cured  by  nature,  which  sustained  cattle  on  the  range  in 
winter.  It  was  not  considered  necessary  to  provide  shelter 
for  the  stock  until  many  cattle  perished  in  the  severe  winter 
of  1881.  That  year  snow  blocked  the  roads  for  weeks  at  a 
time,  and  the  thermometer  registed  fifty-nine  degrees  below 
zero  at  Fort  Benton. 

Many  sheep  are  fed  on  the  range.  There  are  25,000  to 
40,000  head  on  a  good-sized  ranch.  One  man  with  a  dog 
can  herd  2500  when  they  are  grazing.  He  selects  a  spot 


GREAT  FALLS  OF  THE  MISSOURI 


342 


What  to  See  in  America 


HOLE-IN-THE-WALL  ROCK 


near  water  for  a 
camp,  and  drives 
his  sheep  out 
each  morning 
two  or  three 
miles  and  back 
at  night.  When 
the  grass  is  eaten 
in  one  vicinity 
the  camp  is 
moved.  The  life 
of  the  herder  is  very  lonely.  Once  a  week  a  man  brings  him 
food,  but  otherwise  the  herder  has  no  companions  except  his 
sheep  and  his  dog,  and  perhaps  a  horse.  One  of  the  first 
things  a  sheep  ranchman  does  after  the  winter  is  over  is  to 
sell  the  skins  of  the  sheep  which  have  died  during  the  cold 
weather.  He  expects  to  lose  an  average  of  five  per  cent  of 
his  flock  each  winter.  Shearing  is  usually  done  in  June. 
Men  who  make  this  their  business  travel  in  squads  of  about 
twenty-five.  They  erect  sheds  and  pens  near  some  railway 
town  and  shear  all  the  sheep  that  are  brought  to  them. 
Some  ranchmen  have  their  sheep  sheared  on  the  ranch,  but 
the  other  arrangement  is  very  satisfactory  because  it  saves 
the  expense  of  hauling  the  wool  to  the  railway  station.  The 
sheep  graze  as  they  go  and  come,  and  fare  about  as  well  as 
if  they  were  on 
the  range. 

In  the  western 
part  of  the  state 
is  the  reservation       ^^ 
of  the   Flathead     • 
Indians,  a  peace- 
boast  is  that  they  THRESHING  WHEAT 


Montana  343 

have  never  killed  a  white  man.  From  the  railroad  that 
follows  the  Jocko  River  their  huts  and  tepees  can  be  seen 
close  at  hand. 

Somewhat  farther  south  is  the  Bitter  Root  National  Forest 
of  more  than  4,000,000  acres.  It  is  the  wildest,  shaggiest 
block  of  woodland  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  full  of  vigorous, 
storm-loving  trees,  full  of  dancing,  singing  streams,  and  full 
of  big  game  and  innumerable  lesser  creatures.  When  an 


A  ROUND-UP  OUTFIT 

excursion  into  the  National  Forests  of  the  West  is  proposed 
people  imagine  all  sorts  of  dangers  —  snakes,  bears,  Indians. 
Really  the  snake  danger  is  so  slight  it  is  hardly  worth  con 
sidering.  Bears  mind  their  own  business  instead  of  going 
about  seeking  whom  they  may  devour.  They  have  been 
poisoned,  trapped,  and  shot  at  until  they  have  lost  confidence 
in  man,  and  it  is  not  easy  now  to  make  their  acquaintance. 
As  for  Indians,  most  of  them  are  dead  or  civilized  into  useless 
innocence. 

Adjoining  the  Canadian  line  and  inclosing  the  Continental 
Divide  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  that  region  is  Glacier 
National  Park,  extending  sixty  miles  north  and  south  and 
forty  the  other  way.  It  is  a  tract  of  snow-crested  mountains, 
ice-filled  ravines,  lakes  and  streams,  and  Alpine  meadows. 


344  What  to  See  in  America 

Formerly  it  was  the  range  of  the  hunting  and  warring  Black- 
feet  Indians,  who  there  pursued  the  antelope,  mountain 
goats  and  sheep,  moose,  bear,  and  buffalo  ;  and  this  abound 
ing  game  made  them  the  envy  of  all  the  neighboring  tribes 
of  upland  and  prairie.  The  first  white  man  to  see  the  moun 
tains  of  Glacier  Park  was  a  youth  of  seventeen  who  had  been 
commissioned  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  to  establish 
trade  relations  with  the  Blackfeet  hunters.  He  came  from 
the  north  in  1815,  took  up  his  abode  with  the  Blackfeet, 
married  one  of  their  maidens,  and  was  given  the  name  Rising 
Wolf,  which  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  Indians  found  he 
always  appeared  to  be  listening  and  alert  while  he  slept,  and 
if  suddenly  awakened' he  "got  up  quick  on  his  hands  like  a 
wolf."  No  other  white  man  entered  the  domain,  except  a 
missionary  in  1846,  until  1869.  During  the  next  twenty 
years  its  attractions  aroused  increasing  interest,  and  a  good 
deal  of  exploring  was  done  by  enthusiasts.  In  1890  copper 
was  found  there,  and  the  district  was  invaded  by  a  rush  of 
prospectors.  To  open  it  for  mining  purposes  the  government 
bought  the  land  from  the  Indians,  who  moved  to  a  reservation 
east  of  it  where  they  now  breed  cattle  and  cultivate  irrigated 
farms.  Not  enough  copper  was  found  to  make  mining 
profitable,  and  the  prospectors  left.  About  this  time  the 
Great  Northern  Railroad  came  to  the  vicinity,  and  sportsmen 
and  sightseers  began  to  resort  to  it.  Presently  a  campaign 
was  started  to  make  this  a  vacation  reserve  for  the  nation, 
and  in  1910  the  effort  was  crowned  with  success. 

The  chief  entrance  is  the  eastern  one,  where  there  is  a 
massive  rustic  hotel  at  the  Glacier  Park  Railroad  station. 
The  long  exterior  galleries  of  the  hotel  are  supported  by 
huge  tree  trunks  processed  so  that  their  bark  is  retained. 
None  of  them  is  less  than  six  feet  in  diameter.  The  most 
notable  feature  of  the  interior  is  the  Forest  Lobby,  where 
splendid  fir  tree  pillars  four  feet  thick  rise  to  a  skylight  set 


Montana 


345 


MT.  GRINNELL  AND  MCDERMOTT  FALLS 


Montana  347 

in  the  roof.  Another  unique  attraction  is  the  open  camp  fire 
on  the  lobby  floor.  Pine  sticks  merrily  crackle  on  a  great 
slab  of  stone  in  the  evenings,  and  around  the  fire  gather 
tourists,  dignified  Blackfeet  chiefs,  and  weather-beaten 
guides. 

The  auto-stage  highway  that  goes  into  the  park  here 
follows  the  old  Rocky  Mountain  Trail  that  was  for  centuries 
the  north  and  south  travel  route  of  the  Indians,  and  which 
extended  into  South  America. 

In  the  heart  of  the  park  are  nearly  a  dozen  groups  of 
lodges  within  a  day's  walk  of  one  another  to  serve  as  touring 
bases.  Stages  and  launches,  saddle  horses,  and  guides  assist 
the  sightseer  to  get  around  effectively.  On  either  side  of  the 
continental  ridge,  which  runs  through  the  center  of  the  park, 
bridle  paths  have  been  prepared  linking  lakes,  passes, 
glaciers,  and  principal  peaks  to  the  scattered  stopping 
places.  The  regular  season  lasts  from  June  15  to  October  1 . 
A  traveler  can  see  much  of  interest  in  a  day's  time,  but  a 
general  acquaintance  with  the  main  features  of  the  park 
can  hardly  be  gained  in  less  than  a  week. 

The  park  has  in  it  one  spot  known  as  the  Triple  Divide, 
whence  waters  flow  away  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  Hudson  Bay, 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  has  forty  peaks  with  an  altitude 
of  over  8000  feet,  and  four  that  are  over  10,000  feet.  The 
mountains  are  not  of  the  gentle  type,  with  flowing  outlines, 
but  rise  like  citadels,  brusque  and  knurly  and  angular.  Snow 
accumulates  only  on  the  gentler  slopes  or  in  the  higher 
valleys.  Where  it  has  increased  sufficiently,  pressure  has 
turned  the  lower  parts  to  ice,  and  in  such  instances  as  the 
weight  is  sufficient  this  ice  becomes  a  glacier  and  creeps 
slowly  downward,  flowing  as  if  it  were  plastic.  At  a  sudden 
descent,  where  a  river  would  leap  as  a  waterfall,  a  glacier 
breaks  across  in  fissures  that  may  be  several  feet  wide  and 
hundreds  of  feet  long,  and  these  crevasses  go  down  to  blue- 


348 


What  to  See  in  America 


black  depths  that  are 
appalling  to  the  inexperi 
enced  climber.  As  the 
glacier  advances  the 
crevasses  are  bent  out  of 
shape  and  maybe  crossed 
by  fresh  crevasses  that 
split  the  ice  into  wild 
lumps  and  pinnacles.  On 
such  days  as  the  sun 
shines  warmly  the  ice 
melts,  and  by  afternoon 
torrents  of  pale  blue 
water  are  racing  down 
over  the  frozen  surface 
and  here  and  there  plung 
ing  into  a  crevasse.  At 
length  the  water  makes 
its  way  to  the  bottom,  and  then  roars  along  through  an  ice 
tunnel  to  the  end  of  the  glacier. 

Debris  quarried  by  frost  from  the  bordering  mountain  sides 
often  buries  the  edges  of  the  glacier,  and  is  carried  along. 
Blocks  of  rock  as  large  as  cottages  are  occasionally  thus 
transported.  When  the  mass  of  stony  material  arrives  where 
the  melting  of  the  glacier  is  complete,  it  is  piled  up  in  a 
moraine.  Beneath  the  glacier,  fragments  of  stone  frozen 
into  the  bottom  of  the  ice  gouge  and  scour  the  rocky  channel 
and  grind  both  themselves  and  the  surface  over  which  they 
move  into  the  "rock  flour"  that  makes  the  glacier  streams 
so  milky. 

Our  glaciers  are  now  nearly  all  in  retreat,  either  because 
the  climate  is  growing  warmer,  or  because  the  snowfall  is 
lessening.  On  this  account  there  can  be  seen  several  mo 
raines  down  a  valley  below  the  one  that  is  forming.  The 


ICEBERG  LAKE 


\T'S  LADDER 


Montana 


349 


nearest  to  the  ice  is  al 
most  sure  to  be  bare ; 
the  next,  a  few  hun 
dred  yards  away,  may 
have  bushes  growing 
on  it ;  and  others,  a 
mile  or  two  farther 
down,  may  be  covered 
with  ancient  forest. 
Glaciers  once  filled  all 
the  Rocky  Mountain 
valleys,  and  in  many 
instances  hollowed 
them  so  that  now  a 
blue  lake  lies  within 
the  rock  rims. 

Glacier  Park  con 
tains  about  ninety 
glaciers,  ranging  in 
size  from  those  a  few  acres  in  extent  to  Blackfeet  Glacier 
with  its  three  square  miles  of  ice.  Not  only  is  Blackfeet 
Glacier  the  largest,  but  it  is  one  of  the  most  accessible, 
and  it  exhibits  in  fine  development  the  leading  characteristics 
of  glaciers.  Taken  as  a  whole  these  glaciers  are  particularly 
noteworthy  for  their  splendid  setting  in  the  recesses  of  the 
mighty  mountain  ranges.  The  park,  with  its  snow  and  ice, 
its  picturesquely  modeled  peaks,  its  gigantic  precipices,  its 
rounded  valley  floors  adorned  with  ferns  and  flowers  and 
slender  pines,  and  its  romantically  lovely  two  hundred  and 
fifty  lakes,  is  an  American  Switzerland.  The  lakes  have  one 
phase  of  alikeness  —  each  is  in  a  basin  surrounded  wholly 
or  in  part  by  towering  rock  walls.  The  deep  vividly  blue 
St.  Mary's  Lake  is  declared  to  be  the  most  beautiful  moun 
tain  lake  in  America.  A  little  steamer  takes  tourists  from 


MT.  GOULD,  GLACIER  PARK 


350 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  highway  ten  miles  to  the  head  of  the  lake,  where  are 
several  lofty  peaks,  the  highest  of  which,  as  named  by  the 
Indians,  is  the  Face-of-Sour-Spirit-Who-Went-Back-to-the- 
Sun-After-His-Work-was-Done.  The  whites  have  short 
ened  this  name  to  Going  to  the  Sun  Mountain.  According 
to  a  Blackfeet  legend,  Sour  Spirit  descended  from  the  sun 
a  long  time  ago,  and  taught  the  tribe  how  to  shoot  straight 
with  the  bow  and  arrow,  how  to  build  comfortable  tepees, 
and  how  to  slaughter  many  buffalo  at  a  time.  Then,  before 
returning  to  the  sun,  he  chiseled  the  likeness  of  his  face  on 
the  granite  crest  of  Going  to  the  Sun  Mountain  for  an  in 
spiration  to  the  tribesmen. 

The  park  is  the  haunt  of  the  mountain  goat,  one  of  the 
bravest  and  hardiest  of  hoofed  animals,  whose  expertness 
as  a  crag-climber  is  unsurpassed.  Here  also  may  be  found 
in  their  native  haunts  grizzly  and  black  bears,  elk,  moose, 
deer,  and  bighorn  sheep.  Occasionally  the  tracks  of  a 


KINTLA  LAKE 


Montana 


351 


CLOSE  OF  DAY,  Two  MEDICINE  LAKE 


©  R.  E.  Marble 


mountain  lion  are  seen.  Trout  abound  in  the  lakes  and 
streams. 

At  Browning,  in  the  Blackfeet  Reservation,  which  is  just 
east  of  the  park,  several  thousand  Indians  assemble  early  in 
July  for  an  annual  reunion.  They  put  up  their  tepees 
in  a  great  oval  camp  beside  Willow  Creek,  and  go  through 
many  old-time  ceremonies  that  are  very  curious  and  fas 
cinating.  The  names  of  some  of  their  present-day  leaders  are 
Little  Dog,  Bear  Chief,  Jack  Big  Moon,  White  Quiver,  and 
Crow  Eyes. 

In  southern  Montana,  not  far  from  what  is  now  the 
village  of  the  Crow  Agency,  occurred  the  encounter  between 
the  gallant  Custer  and  the  Indians  late  in  June,  1870.  Few 
events  in  the  great  Northwest  have  been  more  tragic  and 
melancholy.  Not  one  of  the  whites  survived  to  tell  the 
story,  and  all  we  have  learned  of  the  details,  except  what  the 


352 


What  to  See  in  America 


FLATHEAD  RIVER 


battlefield  itself 
disclosed,  has 
come  from  the 
hostile  red  men. 
Through  the  low 
lands  flows  the 
winding,  tree- 
fringed  Little 
Bighorn  River, 
and  between  the 
Agency  and  the 
battlefield,  three 

miles  distant,  is  a  level  stretch  of  pasturage.  Then  you 
come  to  hills  rising  in  a  long  and  often  steep  sweep  to  a 
high  ridge  that  overlooks  all  the  country  for  miles  around. 
Along  this  ridge  the  battle  was  fought.  It  is  a  dreary  spot, 
entirely  devoid  of  trees  or  other  marked  features.  The  soil 
is  full  of  small  stones  scantily  hidden  by  growths  of  sagebrush, 
prickly  pear,  and  tufts  of  coarse  grass.  For  a  mile  along 
the  hillcrest  is  a  scattering  of  white  gravestones,  each  marking 
the  spot  where  a  soldier's  body  was  found.  Some  of  these 

,~ ,  occur  in  groups, 
I  others  singly; 
and  they  are  a 
pathetic  indica 
tion  of  the  fierce 
struggle  of  the 
troops  to  defend 
and  disentangle 
themselves  from 
the  fierce  clutch 
of  their  savage 
enemies.  Occa- 
ST.  MARY'S  LAKE  sional  stones  are 


Montana 


353 


MT.  CLEVELAND 


far  down  among  the 
steep-sided  coulees  that 
furrow  the  rough  slope, 
as  if  the  men  had  made 
sorties  in  order  to  reach 
the  river.  No  water  was 
to  be  had  nearer,  and  the 
lack  of  it  was  a  serious 
handicap.  The  last  stand 
was  made  just  under  the 
western  brow  of  the  ex 
treme  north  end  of  the 
ridge  where  it  rises  high 
est,  a  cool  windy  spot 
usually,  but  on  a  still 

summer  day  baking  hot.  Opposite  this  height,  on  the  other 
shore  of  the  river,  the  Indians  had  their  encampments 
straggling  along  for  two  miles  or  more.  Each  party  was  in 
plain  view  of  the  other,  and  at  all  times  knew  its  opponents' 
movements  and  condition.  Custer  fell  in  the  midst  of  his 
men,  and  a  wooden  cross  marks  the  location  where  his  body 
was  found.  This 
rude  memorial 
seems  not  alto 
gether  appropri 
ate,  but  nothing 
is  safe  from  the 
rapacity  of  the 
relic-hunters, 
and  when  they 
have  destroyed 
one  cross  by 
carrying  it  off  a 
splinter  at  a 

2A 


BOWMAN  LAKE 


354  What  to  See  in  America 

time,  another  can  be  set  up  in  its  place.  Custer  had  to 
deal  with  nearly  3000  Sioux  warriors,  including  boys  who 
were  armed  with  bows  and  arrows.  When  he  came  to  grips 
with  the  enemy  toward  noon  that  June  day  he  had  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men  with  him.  The  fight  lasted  only 
a  few  hours,  and  then  the  Indians  shouted  and  reveled  on 
the  battlefield,  scalping  and  plundering  the  dead  soldiers; 
and  the  young  men  and  boys  rode  about  firing  into  the 
bodies.  When  darkness  came  they  lighted  bonfires  in  their 
encampments,  and  all  night  long  were  engaged  in  frantic 
rejoicing,  beating  drums,  dancing,  yelling,  and  discharging 
firearms. 


UINTA   MTS 

alt  Lake 
.merican 
Prdvo^i 

Spring-v-i 


355 


PRIEST  LAKE,  KANIKSU  NATIONAL  FOREST 


XLI 

Idaho 

Idaho  bears  an  Indian  name  which  means  "  Gem  of  the  Moun 
tains."  In  nearly  every  part  of  the  state  mountains  abound. 
The  loftiest  height  is  Hyndman  Peak,  about  one  hundred 
miles  east  of  Boise,  with  an  altitude  of  12,078  feet.  Some 
what  farther  west  are  the  precipitous  Sawtooth  Mountains, 
which,  with  their  Alpine  lakes,  heavy  forests,  flowery 
meadows,  and  clear  streams,  have  rare  charm.  The  mighty 
Bitter  Root  Range  forms  much  of  the  eastern  boundary. 
In  its  irregular  course  it  bends  westerly  and  narrows  the  state 
from  three  hundred  miles  at  the  south  to  forty-five  miles  at 
the  north.  Idaho  is  larger  than  all  New  England,  and  has  a 
single  county  that  exceeds  Massachusetts  in  size. 

The  first  explorers  of  the  region  were  Lewis  and  Clark, 
who  came  across  the  mountains  from  the  headwaters  of  the 
Missouri  in  August,  1805.  They  and  the  twenty-six  men 
with  them  were  the  earliest  whites  to  go  overland  to  the 

356 


Idaho 


357 


Pacific.  In  crossing  Idaho  they  kept  near  the  Salmon 
River,  which  is  about  halfway  between  the  northern  and 
southern  boundaries.  They  nearly  starved,  and  resorted  to 
eating  horseflesh  and  roots.  Most  of  their  scanty  food 
supply  was  obtained  from  the  Indians.  After  this  expedition 
had  gone  on  its  way  Idaho  was  visited  only  by  hunters  and 
trappers  for  a  long  time.  In  1810  Fort  Henry  was  established 
as  a  fur  trading  post  on  the  Snake  River,  but  permanent 
settlements  date  from  the  revelation  of  Idaho's  mineral 
resources  a  half  century  later.  The  great  discovery  of 
precious  metals  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state  was  made 
at  Cceur  d'Alene  in  1882. 
The  name  is  that  of  a  tribe 
of  Indians.  It  means  Awl- 
heart,  and  was  originally 
given  to  a  chief  of  the  tribe 
in  derision  of  his  stinginess. 
The  famous  mining  camps  of 
the  Cceur  d'Alene  district  lie 
high  up  on  the  western  slope 
of  a  northward  projection  of 
the  Bitter  Root  Range.  Were 
it  not  for  the  mines,  that  sec 
tion  of  the  state  would  be 
nearly  as  complete  a  wilder 
ness  as  it  was  before  the 
white  men  came  thither.  It 
contains  almost  no  arable 
land,  and  the  timber  is  fit  for 
little  but  mining  purposes. 
The  network  of  mines  centers 
about  Wallace.  From  these 
mines  has  come  $200,0()(),<)()() 
Worth  of  lead,  silver,  gold,  THE  SAWTOOTH  MOUNTAINS 


358 


What  to  See  in  America 


THE  CAPITOL  AT  BOISE 


copper,  and  zinc,  and  they 
are  producing  a  third  of  all 
the  lead  output  of  the  United 
States. 

Boise,  Idaho's  largest  city 
and  capital,  is  on  the  site  of 
an  old  trading  post  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company.  It 
was  founded  in  1862  as  the 
result  of  gold  discoveries 
thirty  miles  northeast.  From 
the  placer  mining  ground  in 
that  vicinity  hundreds  of 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  of 
gold  have  been  sent  to  the 
world's  mints.  Boise  is  noted 

for  its  hot  springs,  the  water  from  which  is  piped  through  the 

streets,  and  warms  a  considerable  portion  of  the  city's  homes 

and  business  blocks.     The  hot  water  is  also  conveyed  to  one 

of  the  largest  natatoriums  in  the  West,  and  many  sufferers 

from  rheumatism  and  kindred  ailments  are  relieved  by  it. 
Twenty  miles  from 

Boise  on  the  river  of 

the    same    name    is 

the  great  Arrowrock 

Dam,  three  hundred 

and  forty-eight  feet 

high,  ninety  feet  of 

which  is   below   the 

river,    where    it    is 

anchored    to    solid 

granite.     It    is    the 

highest   structure  of 

its  kind  in  the  World.  ARROWROCK  DAM,  NEAR  BOISE 


Idaho 


359 


SHEEP  BRIDGE  ON  THE  DEADWOOD  RIVER 


The  width  of  the 
base  is  two  hun 
dred  and  forty 
feet  and  that  of 
the  top  sixteen 
feet.  More  than 
one  million  tons 
of  material  went 
into  the  da m.  A 
lake  has  been 
formed  back  of 
the  dam  eighteen 
miles  long,  and 
containing  water  enough  to  irrigate  two  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  acres. 

One  of  Idaho's  early  settlements  is  Soda  Springs,  founded 
by  Brigham  Young  soon  after  1870.  It  has  an  ideal  climate, 
and  is  charmingly  situated  in  a  valley  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  rugged  peaks  in  the  mountainous  southeastern 
corner  of  the  state.  The  numerous  springs  are  highly  rec 
ommended  for  their  medicinal  properties,  and  there  are 
splendid  hunting  and  fishing  in  the  vicinity. 

One  of  the  thriving 
towns  on  the  banks 
of  the  Snake  River, 
well  up  toward  that 
river's  headwaters, 
is  St.  Anthony.  Its 
location  was  deter 
mined  by  the  fact 
that  the  river  has 
here  cut  deep  in  the 
basalt  that  underlies 
SIWASH  INDIANS,  PEND  OBEILLE  RIVER  the  soil  of  the  valley 


360  What  to  See  in  America 

a  canyon  so  narrow  that  it  could  be  easily  bridged.  Previous 
to  1893  the  place  included  only  "jack-rabbits,  lava  rock,  and 
Old  Man  Moon."  Mr.  Moon  came  in  1887,  built  a  bridge 
and  a  store,  and  called  the  place  St.  Anthony  because  the 
river  here  makes  a  leap  of  about  thirty  feet,  and  he  fancied 
he  saw  some  resemblance  to  St.  Anthonys  Falls  in  Minnesota. 
The  canyon  walls  at  the  bridge  are  barely  fifty  feet  apart. 


THE  NIAGARA  OF  THE  WEST 

In  1893,  when  the  town  consisted  of  three  log  cabins,  and  a 
two-story  log  store,  it  was  made  the  county  seat.  Even 
now  the  population  does  not  much  exceed  two  thousand,  yet 
the  place  has  two  large  schoolhouses,  one  of  which  cost  $60,- 
000,  a  $70,000  courthouse,  an  opera  house,  three  banks,  and 
other  features  to  match.  In  1913  there  were  26,000  acres 
of  seed  peas  grown  in  the  county,  where  the  climate  and 
irrigated  soil  are  especially  favorable  for  quality  and  a  heavy 
yield  of  this  crop. 


Idaho 


361 


Tn  the  west  central  part  of  Idaho  is  the  Weiser  National 
Forest.  This  is  particularly  rugged  and  picturesque  in  the 
Seven  Devils  Mountains  at  the  northern  end.  Between 
these  mountains  and  the  Cornucopias  in  Oregon  is  the  Snake 
River  Canyon,  which  for  abysmal  depths  and  magnificent 
distances  is  unsurpassed  in  the  Northwest. 

The  Snake  River  has  carved  its  deepest  gorge  farther 
south  near  Twin  Falls  City.  Here  it  flows  between  lava  walls 
four  or  five  thou 
sand  feet '  high, 
and  here  is  the 
Shoshone  Fall, 
or  "  Niagara  of 
the  West,"  as  it 
has  been  called, 
where  the  river 
makes  a  perpen 
dicular  leap  of 
two  hundred  feet 
from  a  crescent- 
shaped  ledge 
nearly  a  thou 
sand  feet  wide. 

The  gorge  itself  is  of  gloomy  volcanic  rock  devoid  of  any 
beauty  in  color,  but  savagely  impressive  by  reason  of  its 
size,  and  also  because  its  columnar  and  grottoed  walls  and 
vast  terraces  are  suggestive  of  the  planning  and  labor  of  some 
titanic  architect  and  builder.  As  for  the  great  foaming  water 
fall,  the  onlooker  is  satisfied  that  here  is  one  of  the  noblest 
sights  on  this  continent.  But  it  is  not  seen  to  advantage  in 
late  summer  and  early  autumn  when  the  water  is  low. 
Immediately  above  the  leap  are  rapids  and  lesser  falls,  while 
big  bowlders  and  various  islets  block  the  way  and  add  to  the 
wild  beauty.  Farther  up  the  river  in  the  quiet  water  beyond 


IN  KANIKSU  NATIONAL  FOREST 


362  What  to  See  in  America 

the  rapids  a  clumsy  flat-bottomed  ferry  boat  plies  back  and 
forth.  About  1910  the  man  who  ran  the  ferry  imbibed  too 
freely  of  whisky,  and  went  over  the  falls  in  a  rowboat. 
His  body  was  found  in  the  river  below  several  days  later.  A 
foolhardy  Indian  half-breed  once  leaped  from  the  crest  of 
the  falls.  He  was  dared  by  a  companion  to  make  the  jump, 
and  down  he  went  —  and  he  escaped  with  only  a  few  bruises. 
About  five  miles  below  the  fall  are  the  attractive  Blue 

Lakes,  where  boat 
ing  and  'fishing  may 
be  enjoyed. 

A  black  and 
ragged  lava  bed 
covers  much  of  the 
territory  along  the 
course  of  the  Snake 
River,  and  forms  a 

A  POTATO  FIELD  NEAR  SHOSHONE  FALLS  desert    four   hun 

dred  miles  long  arid 

from  forty  to  sixty  miles  wide.  The  lava  is  from  half  a 
mile  to  a  mile  thick.  A  rich  soil  covers  most  of  the  lava 
plains,  but  there  is  little  rainfall  in  southern  Idaho,  and  the 
ever-present  and  characteristic  plant  of  these  plains  is  the 
sagebrush.  It  overspreads  all  the  broad  arid  valley,  and  is 
seldom  lacking  except  where  recent  fires  have  occurred  or 
where  land  has  been  cleared  for  cultivation.  When  condi 
tions  are  favorable  to  its  growth  it  may  attain  a  height  of 
ten  feet,  but  usually  is  not  over  three  feet  high,  and  the 
clumps  are  commonly  six  or  eight  feet  apart  so  that  there 
is  no  serious  difficulty  in  riding  or  walking  through  it.  The 
light  grayish-green  foliage  enhances  rather  than  relieves  the 
monotony  of  the  plains.  A  considerable  portion  of  this 
sagebrush  desert  has  been  reclaimed  by  irrigation  and  pro 
duces  wonderful  crops. 


BUFFALO  IN  YELLOWSTONE  PARK 


XLII 
Wyoming 

Trappers  began  to  range  the  region  that  now  bears  the 
name  of  Wyoming  in  1807.  Fort  Laramie,  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  rendezvous  of  the  Western  trappers,  was  established 
in  1834  by  the  American  Fur  Company,  when  the  nearest 
army  outposts  were  seven  hundred  miles  to  the  east.  A  few 
years  later  the  route  to  the  Pacific  through  Wyoming  had 
become  the  favorite  one,  but  of  all  the  thousands  who  went 
over  this  route  few  or  none  settled  permanently  within  the 
present  limits  of  the  state,  partly  because  of  the  aridity  of  the 
soil,  partly  because  of  the  pronounced  hostility  of  the  Indians, 
who  became  increasingly  unfriendly  as  they  saw  with  alarm 
the  movement  of  so  many  whites  through  their  hunting 
grounds.  The  Indians  were  not  thoroughly  subdued  until 
1879.  When  gold  was  discovered  in  California  and  the 
Great  Salt  Lake  Trail  became  an  important  highway,  the 
government  bought  Fort  Laramie  and  transformed  it  into  a 
military  structure  to  awe  the  savages  who  infested  the  trail. 
After  the  savage  tribes  of  the  region  had  become  tame,  or 
had  removed  to  far-off  reservations,  the  fort  was  abandoned. 

363 


364 


What  to  See  in  America 


Settlers  began  to  make  their  homes  there  in  1S68,  and  it  has 
latterly  developed  into  a  popular  summer  resort.  It  is 
near  mountains  which  afford  fine  scenery  and  are  rich  in 
minerals.  At  Laramie  "Bill"  Nye  began  his  career  as  a 
lawyer  in  1876.  He  served  as  superintendent  of  schools, 
member  of  the  city  council,  and  postmaster  in  the  nine 
years  he  was  a  resident  of  Laramie,  and  he  founded  the 
Boomerang  and  came  into  prominence  as  a  humorist.  An 
example  of  his  writing  at  that  time  is  this  concerning 


"WYOMING  FARMS 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  discourage  those  who  might  wish  to 
come  to  this  place  for  the  purpose  of  engaging  in  agriculture, 
but  frankly  I  will  state  that  it  has  its  drawbacks.  First, 
the  soil  is  quite  coarse,  and  the  agriculturist,  before  he  can 
even  begin  with  any  prospect  of  success,  must  run  his  farm 
through  a  stamp  mill  to  make  it  sufficiently  mellow.  This 
involves  a  large  expense  at  the  very  outset.  Hauling  the 

farm  to  a  mill  would 
delay  the  farmer  two 
or  three  hundred 
years  in  getting  his 
crops  in,  thus  giving 
the  agriculturist  who 
had  a  pulverized 
farm  in  Nebraska, 
Colorado,  or  Utah,  a 
great  advantage. 

"We  have,  it  is 
true,  a  large  area  of 
farming  lands,  but 


TONGUE  RIVER  CANYON 


they  must  be  crushed 
and  then  treated  for 


Wyoming 


365 


A  BUNCH  OF  RANGE  HORSES 


alkali,  in  which 
mineral  our  Wyo 
ming  farms  are 
very  rich. 

"The  climate 
is  erratic  and 
peculiar.  The 
altitude  is  be 
tween  seven  thousand  and  eight  thousand  feet  above  high 
water  mark,  so  that  during  the  winter  it  does  not  snow  much, 
we  being  above  snow  line ;  but  in  the  summer  the  snow  clouds 
rise  above  us,  and  then  the  surprised  and  indignant  agri 
culturist  is  caught  in  the  middle  of  a  July  day  with  a  terrific 
fall  of  snow.  He  is  virtually  compelled  to  wear  his  snowshoes 
all  through  his  haying  season.  This  is  annoying  and 
fatiguing.  The  snowshoes  make  his  progress  laborious. 
Besides,  he  tangles  his  feet  up  in  the  windrows  and  falls  on 
his  nose.  Again,  the  early  frosts  make  close  connections 
with  the  late  spring  blizzards,  so  that  there  is  only  time  for  a 
hurried  lunch  between. 

"Aside  from  these  little  drawbacks,  and  the  fact  that 
nothing  grows  without  irrigation  except  white  oak  clothespins 
and  promissory  notes  drawing  interest,  the  prospect  for  the 

agricultural  future  of 
Wyoming  is  gratify 
ing  in  the  extreme." 

The  railroad  crosses 
the  Continental  Di 
vide  at  Sherman,  fif 
teen  miles  south  of 
Laramie,  at  an  alti 
tude  of  a  trifle  over 
SNOWSHOE  RABBIT  eight  thousand  feet. 


366 


What  to  See  in  America 


On  clear  days  Pikes  Peak   can  be  seen  one  hundred  and 
seventy -five  miles  to  the  south. 

Gold  was  discovered  in  1S67  on  the  Sweetwater  River, 
which  joins  the  North  Platte  in  the  central  part  of  the  state, 
and  a  large  inrush  of  population  followed.  Cheyenne  was 
founded  that  year,  and  about  six  thousand  persons  wintered 

there.  It  has  developed 
into  a  prosperous  modern 
city,  the  largest  in  the 
state,  and  the  capital. 
Cheyenne  has  always 
been  a  great  live  stock 
center.  The  memory  of 
the  "Wild  West"  is 
kept  alive  by  the  annual 
"Frontier  Days"  cele 
bration  at  which  bronco 
busting,  steer  roping, 
and  Indian  dances  are 
features. 

In  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  state,  on  the 
Belle  Fourche  River, 
thirty-two  miles  from  the 
railway  town  of  Moor- 
croft,  is  the  curious 
Devil's  Tower  or  Bear  Lodge,  a  natural  obelisk  of  columnar 
basaltic  rock,  one  thousand  two  hundred  feet  high,  and 
tapering  from  a  base  diameter  of  eight  hundred  feet  to  one 
of  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  at  the  top.  It  is 
supposed  to  be  the  plug  of  an  extinct  volcano,  the  crater  of 
which  has  been  removed  by  erosion. 

At  Como,  a  few  miles  east  of  Moorcroft,  the  railroad  is 
built  across  a  small  lake  in  which  are  found  .great  numbers  of 


DEVIL'S  TOWER 


Wyoming 


367 


LOWER  YELLOWSTONE  FALLS 


©  Haynes,  St.  Paul 


Wyoming  369 

salamanders  that  grow  to  be  a  foot  in  length  and  are  locally 
known  as  "fish  with  legs." 

Coal  was  discovered  in  Wyoming  by  Fremont  in  1843. 
The  coal  fields  cover  nearly  one  half  the  area  of  the  state, 
and  the  mining  of  coal  is  an  important  industry.  Wyoming 
also  has  productive  oil  fields. 

The  greater  portion  of  the  state  consists  of  high  plains 
that  in  places  have  picturesque  buttes  and  mesas  rising  above 
their  general  level.  It  is  a  land  of  little  rain,  but  wonderful 
crops  are  grown  on  the  many  irrigated  areas,  and  dry  farming 
is  practiced  successfully.  As  a  whole,  the  surface  is  gently 
rolling  and  barren  of  trees,  yet  often  covered  with  nutritious 
grasses  that  afford  pasturage  for  vast  numbers  of  live  stock. 
The  cattle  industry  suffered  a  check  during  the  severe  winter 
of  1886-87  when  nearly  three  fourths  of  the  range  cattle 
died  of  exposure.  There  have  been  many  conflicts  between 
the  range  cattle  owners  and  sheep  flock  masters  over  the  use 
of  grazing  grounds.  Settlers  who  selected  homesteads 
covering  watering  places  have  also  come  into  conflict  with 
the  cattlemen.  Some  of  the  settlers  subsisted  by  stealing 
range  calves  and  unbranded  cattle,  and  it  was  almost  im 
possible  to  get  a  jury  to  convict  these  outlaws.  Things 
became  so  bad  that  in  1892  an  armed  force  of  fifty  mounted 
cattlemen  invaded  the  central  part  of  the  state  with  avowed 
intentions  of  killing  all  the  men  generally  suspected  to  be 
stock  thieves.  They  surrounded  a  log  cabin  and  shot  down 
two  of  the  supposed  cattle  "rustlers."  But  this  roused 
the  country  around,  and  the  cattlemen  were  attacked  and 
sought  refuge  in  some  ranch  buildings.  Their  case  was 
becoming  desperate  when  a  troop  of  Federal  cavalry  arrived 
and  took  the  besieged  ranchmen  to  Cheyenne  as  prisoners. 
Later  the  ranchmen  were  released,  and  that  ended  the  affair. 
There  are  still  many  cattle  in  the  state,  but  they  are  in  small 
herds.  The  breeds  have  been  improved,  and  they  no  longer 
2s 


370 


What  to  See  in  America 


©  Gifford 


UPPER  YELLOWSTONE  AND  ABSAROKA  MOUNTAINS: 


depend  on  the  open  range  for  a  precarious  subsistence  during 
the  winter,  but  are  sheltered  and  fed. 

Wyoming  holds  first  rank  in  the  sheep  industry.  Sheep 
stand  the  cold  on  the  open  range  better  than  cattle  and  have 
proved  more  profitable.  They  are  pastured  in  the  mountains 
during  the  summer,  and  are  driven  to  the  plains  to  find 
sustenance  in  winter.  An  especially  interesting  time  to  visit 
Wyoming  is  in  early  summer  when  the  great  flocks  of  sheep 
are  driven  to  the  vicinity  of  the  settlements  to  be  sheared. 
That  affords  the  only  opportunity  to  see  the  wandering  flocks 
to  advantage  without  going  far  into  the  wilds. 

The  state  has  an  Indian  name  which  means  "Large  Plain." 
When  a  territorial  government  was  organized  in  1869 
woman's  suffrage  was  adopted,  and  this  has  been  maintained 
ever  since.  Because  Wyoming  was  a  pioneer  in  giving 
women  equal  voting  rights  with  men,  it  is  called  the 
"Equality  State."  Its  highest  mountain  is  Gannett  Peak, 
in  the  central  part  of  the  state,  with  an  altitude  of  13,785 
feet. 


Wyoming 


371 


CONSTANT  GEYSER,  NORKIS  BASIN 

The  northwest  corner  of  Wyoming  is  occupied  by  Yellow 
stone  Park,  the  "American  Wonderland,"  which,  in  1872, 
was  made  the  first  scenic  National  Park  in  the  world.  The 
Indians  of  the  region  knew  of  the  tract  and  had  trails  across 
it.  They  superstitiously  avoided  the  geyser  sections. 
Those,  as  an  old  Indian  told  a  park  official  in  1880,  were 
considered  "heap,  heap  bad."  The  Indians  called  the  park 
the  "Top  of  the  World,"  and  the  "Land  of  Burning  Moun 
tains."  They  made  scant  use  of  it.  For  nine  months  of 
the  year  the  passes  into  it  are  blocked  with  snow,  and  it  is 
mostly  covered  with  tangled  forest.  The  first  white  man  to 
set  foot  in  it  was  John  Colter,  a  himter  and  trapper,  who 
crossed  it  in  1807,  and  saw  numerous  geysers,  hot  springs, 
and  other  wonders.  Three  years  later,  when  he  told  the 
story  of  his  discovery  in  St.  Louis,  the  people  laughed  in 
derision.  They  mockingly  dubbed  the  region  "Colter's 
Hell." 

James  Bridger,  who  was  recognized  as  a  leader  among 
the  Western  guides  and  traders  while  yet  in  his  minority, 


372 


What  to  See  in  America 


and  who  ten  years  later  had  become  the  "Old  Man  of  the 
Mountains,"  visited  what  is  now  the  park  in  1830  and  often 
afterward.  He  became  well  acquainted  with  its  remarkable 
features.  The  editor  of  a  leading  Western  paper  prepared 
an  article  from  his  description,  and  then  suppressed  it 
because  a  man  who  knew  Bridger  told  him  he  would  be 
laughed  out  of  town  if  he  printed  any  of  "old  Jim  Bridger's 
lies."  Undoubtedly  Bridger  had  a  habit  of  reckless  exag 
geration  in  telling  his  experiences,  and  such  was  his  reputation 
for  romancing  that  the  facts  he  related  about  the  Yellowstone 
were  set  down  as  the  harmless  vaporings  of  a  mind  to  which 
truth  had  long  been  a  stranger.  You  can  judge  why  they 
should  so  decide  from  the  following  example  of  his  stories : 

"Far  off  across  the  plain  from  a  camping  place  where  I 
often  stopped  was  a  high  mountain  that  rose  on  the  side 

fnHpB^MHHHH^HHH|  toward  my  camp  in  a 
steep  bare  precipice  of 
rock.  It  was  so  dis- 

_nmmm_   -P—BB^—™^^^^^—     tant  that  the  echo  of 

any  sound  in  the  camp 
did  not  return  for 
about  six  hours,  and 
I  made  the  mountain 
serve  as  an  alarm 
clock.  When  I  was 
about  to  retire  for  the 
night  I  would  call  out 
lustily,  'Time  to  get 
up  ! '  And  the  alarm 
would  come  back  the 
next  morning  at  just 
the  hour  that  I  wanted 


RIVERSIDE  GEYSER 


©  By  Haynea 


to  bestir  myself." 


Wyoming, 


373 


The  discovery  of  the  Yellowstone  Wonderland,  so  far  as 
its  full  and  final  disclosure  to  the  world  is  concerned,  was  the 
work  of  three  parties,  the  first  of  which  visited  it  in  1869. 
This  consisted  of  three  men  who  went  to  the  region  to  verify 
or  refute  the  rumors  concerning  it  which  had  been  agitating 
the  people  of  Montana  for  some  years.  They  set  out  Sep 
tember  6  from  Diamond  City  on  the  Missouri  River,  forty 
miles  from  Helena,  and  in  the  thirty-six  days  before  they 
returned  saw  the  Yellowstone  P'alls  and  many  of  the  other 
attractive  and  marvelous  features  of  the  country. 

A  party  of  nineteen  went  to  the  region  the  next  year. 
There  were  nine  civilians  from  Helena,  a  small  military  escort, 
and  two  packers  and  two  colored  cooks.  They  had  thirty- 
five  horses  and  mules,  and  altogether  the  "outfit"  made  quite 
an  imposing  cavalcade.  It  was  very  successful  in  its  ex 
ploring,  but  on  September  9,  while  traversing  the  laby 
rinths  of  fallen  timber 
between  the  projecting 
arms  of  Yellowstone 
Lake  on  its  south  side, 
Mr.  Everts,  fifty-four 
years  of  age,  became 
separated  from  his  com 
panions,  and  was  forced 
to  spend  the  night 
alone.  In  the  morning 
his  horse  escaped  from 
him  and  was  never  seen 
again.  On  the  horse 
were  nearly  all  Mr, 
Everts's  belongings. 
Even  his  eyeglasses 
were  lost  or  broken  so 
that  he  could  See  only  a  KEPLER  CASCADES,  YELLOWSTONE 


374 


What  to  See  in  America 


short  distance.  The  most  valuable  thing  left  in  his  pockets 
was  a  little  field  glass.  He  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  home,  without  a  blanket  or  a  fire,  in  so  high  an  altitude 
that  there  were  severe  frosts  every  night.  For  two  days  he 
was  without  food,  and  then  he  discovered  a  kind  of  thistle 

that  had  a  radish-like 
root  which  proved  to  be 
edible  and  wholesome. 
Thereafter  he  tried  to 
always  have  a  supply 
with  him.  One  night  a 
mountain  lion  came 
prowling  toward  him. 
He  hastily  climbed  a  tree, 
and  the  animal  wandered 
howling  about  the  base 
for  a  long  time.  When 
it  finally  went  away  Mr. 
Everts  came  down  half 
dead  with  stiffness  and 
cold.  Once,  in  the  midst 
of  a  bleak  snowstorm  that 
whitened  the  earth,  a  little  benumbed  bird  fell  into  his 
hands,  and  he  at  once  killed  and  ate  it.  He  stayed  seven 
days  beside  a  small  lake  in  a  deep  valley  surrounded  by 
lofty  mountains.  There  were  hot  springs  in  the  vicinity 
that  afforded  him  some  relief  from  the  cold,  and  he  built  a 
shelter  of  boughs  near  one  of  them.  The  boiling  water 
served  for  cooking  his  thistle  roots.  At  length  he  discovered 
that  he  could  make  a  fire  by  allowing  the  sun's  rays  to  pass 
through  a  lens  from  his  field  glass  on  to  a  piece  of  soft  dry 
wood.  After  that,  in  his  wanderings,  he  planned  to  camp 
early  enough  toward  each  day's  end  to  kindle  a  fire  with  his 
lens.  One  day,  on  the  shore  of  Yellowstone  Lake,  he  found  a 


A  YELLOWSTONE  ELK 


Wyoming 


375 


gull's  wing  that  by  some  chance  had  been  torn  off.  He 
hurriedly  stripped  it  of  feathers,  pounded  it  bones  and  all 
between  two  stones,  started  a  fire,  and  boiled  the  wing  in  a 
little  tin  can  which  he  had  picked  up  at  one  of  the  camps. 
It  made  the  most  delicious  soup  he  ever  tasted.  His  mind 
began  to  feel  the  effect  of  his  suffering.  Strange  visions 
came  to  him,  and  he  lost  all  sense  of  time.  But  on  and  on 
he  went,  his  strength  waning,  and  his  day's  journey  getting 
shorter,  and  the  nights  growing  more  bleak  and  cold.  At 
last  he  came  out  into  open  country  on  a  high  plateau  and 
could  see  distant  hills  where  he  knew  he  could  find  help. 
He  was  following  a  trail  that  led  thither  when  he  stumbled 
and  fell,  and  was  unable  to  rise.  Apparently  the  end  was 
at  hand.  But  while  he  lay  there  a  voice  called  his  name, 
and  two  men  leaped  from  their  horses  beside  him.  He  was 
saved  after  having  been  lost  thirty-seven  days.  His  wander 
ings  had  probably  been  wholly  within  the  limits  of  the  park, 
and  he  was  found  a  few  miles  west  of  Yancev's,  not  far  from 


MINERVA  TERRACE 


376  What  to  See  in  America 

the  Mammoth  Hot  Springs.  His  companions  had  spent 
two  weeks  searching  for  him,  lighting  fires,  discharging  guns, 
putting  up  signs,  and  leaving  food  here  and  there,  but  all 
to  no  purpose.  They  finally  concluded  that  he  was  no 
longer  alive,  and  reluctantly  went  on  their  way  without  him. 
When  they  got  back  to  the  settlements  a  relief  expedition  was 
organized,  and  he  was  found  by  two  expert  mountain  scouts 
of  this  relief  party.  He  fully  recovered  and  lived  to  the 
age  of  eighty-five. 

The  news  of  the  1870  expedition  created  widespread  interest 
throughout  the  country  and  led  to  a  more  thorough  ex 
ploration  the  following  year  by  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey  and  military  engineers.  A  few  months  later  the 
Yellowstone  National  Park  was  created.  It  is  the  largest  of 
all  our  National  Parks,  sixty-two  miles  long  and  fifty-four 
wide,  which  means  that  it  is  about  the  size  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Delaware  combined. 

Beyond  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains,  northwest  of  the 
park,  was  the  land  of  the  Nez  Perce  Indians.  These  Indians 

went  on  the 
warpath  in  1877, 
and  after  several 
battles  with  the 
whites  came  over 
into  the  Yellow 
stone  Park  on 
August  23.  Two 
parties  of  Mon 
tana  tourists 
were  there  at  the 
time.  One  of 
these,  consisting 
of  seven  men 

©  Haynes  •,    , 

GEYSEB  and  two  women, 


Wyoming 


377 


©  By  Haynta 
UPPER  YELLOWSTONE  FALLS 


was  camped  on 
the  bank  of  a  little 
stream  west  of  the 
Fountain  Geyser 
when  the  Nez  Perces 
arrived  and  com 
pelled  the  party  to 
go  with  them  up  Nez 
Perce  Creek.  But 
when  they  reached 
the  foot  of  Mary 
Mountain,  they  con 
fiscated  the  tourists' 
supplies  and  horses, 
gave  them  some  of 
their  own  broken-down  nags,  and  let  them  go. 

The  tourists  in  the  other  party  were  ten  men,  including  a 
colored  cook.  They  had  camped  in  the  timber  near  the 
forks  of  Otter  Creek  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  Upper 
Falls  of  the  Yosemite,  and  were  preparing  dinner  when  they 
were  apprised  of  the  presence  of  the  Indians  by  a  volley  of 
musketry.  In  the  hurried  flight  of  the  whites  that  followed, 
one  was  killed.  The  rest  got  away,  and  most  of  them  went  to 
the  Mammoth  Hot  Springs.  While  the  colored  cook  and  a 
German  music  teacher  and  another  man  were  still  there  in  a 
one-story  log  cabin,  which  was  the  first  building  erected  in 
the  park,  and  which  stood  in  the  gulch  west  of  Liberty  Cap, 
some  Indians  were  seen  approaching.  The  music  teacher 
thought  they  were  friendly  scouts,  but  his  companions  fled 
precipitately.  He  was  shot  dead.  One  of  the  two  fugitives 
escaped  without  any  serious  adventures.  The  cook,  however, 
as  he  retreated  up  the  gulch  back  of  the  cabin,  was  followed 
by  the  Indians.  At  a  turn  in  the  trail,  which  concealed  him 
from  their  view>  he  shinned  up  a  tree  and  hid  among  the 


378 


What  to  See  in  America 


branches.  There  he  stayed  until  after  dark.  Then  he 
came  down  and  spent  the  night  in  the  brush.  A  bear 
visited  him  in  the  morning,  and  he  was  undecided  whether 
to  risk  being  eaten  by  the  bear,  or  to  venture  out  and  take 
the  chance  of  being  killed  by  the  Indians.  He  concluded  to 
stay  with  the  bear.  The  creature  stood  up  on  its  hind  feet 
and  looked  at  him  for  a  while,  then  ran  away.  Later  the 
cook  contrived  to  get  to  a  camp  of  scouts  two  miles  north  of 
the  park.  When  he  went  to  bed,  after  supper,  his  heart  was 
so  full  of  gratitude  for  his  escape  that  he  started  in  to  spend 
the  night  praying  aloud  and  thanking  God  for  His  goodness 
to  him.  The  scouts  soon  tired  of  the  darky's  devotions  and 
told  him  to  desist  and  let  them  sleep.  He  responded  that 
God  had  saved  his  life,  and  he  was  going  to  thank  Him  as  long 

and  as  loud  as  he 
pleased  whether 
the  camp  got  any 
sleep  or  not. 
The  commander 
finally  stationed 
a  guard  to  com 
pel  him  to  silence. 
The  park  has 
an  entrance  on 
each  of  its  four 
sides.  A  railroad 
on  the  north  and 
one  on  the  west  come  directly  to  its  borders.  At  first  the 
government  gave  it  little  attention.  Hunters  invaded  the 
domain  and  slaughtered  game,  attempts  were  made  to  run 
a  railroad  through  it,  and  one  company  almost  obtained 
title  to  Yellowstone  Falls.  But  a  few  people,  at  great 
personal  sacrifice,  saved  the  park  in  its  primitive  natural 
ness.  It  has  its  hotels  and  camps,  and  its  auto-stages  which 


LEWIS  FALLS,  YELLOWSTONE  PARK 


Wyoming 


379 


make  the  circular  tour  in  two  days ;  and  you  can  go  tramp 
ing  or  riding  on  the  trails,  fishing  in  the  lakes  and  streams, 
and  bathing  in  the  hot-water  pools.  You  are  likely  to  en 
counter  cool  weather,  and  should  provide  clothing  accord 
ingly.  Heavy  shoes  or  rubbers  are  needed  for  walking 
about  the  geyser  basins. 

The  central  part  of  the  park  is  a  broad  volcanic  plateau 
about  8000  feet  above  sea  level.  Roundabout  are  mountain 
ranges  whose 
peaks  and  ridges 
rise  from  2000  to 
4000  feet  above 
the  table-land. 
In  the  park  are 
more  geysers 
than  are  found 
in  all  the  rest  of 
the  world,  danc 
ing  and  singing 
amid  thousands 
of  boiling  springs, 
whose  basins  are 
arrayed  in  gor 
geous  colors  like  gigantic  flowers.  Here  too  are  hot  paint 
pots  and  mud  volcanoes,  the  contents  of  which  are  of 
every  color  and  consistency,  and  which  plash  and  heave 
and  roar  in  bewildering  abundance.  You  see  Nature  at 
work  cooking  whole  mountains,  boiling  and  steaming  flinty 
rocks  to  smooth  paste  and  mush  —  yellow,  brown,  red, 
pink,  lavender,  gray,  and  creamy  —  the  most  beautiful  mud 
in  the  world.  Some  of  the  spring  basins  hold  limpid  pale 
green  or  azure  water,  but  in  others  is  scalding  muck  which 
is  tossed  up  five,  ten,  and  even  thirty  feet  in  sticky  rank- 
smelling  masses,  with  gasping,  belching,  thudding  sounds. 


GROTTO  GEYSER 


©  Haynes 


380  What  to  See  in  America 

Over  four  thousand  hot  springs  have  been  counted  and  a 
hundred  geysers.  The  whole  region  hisses  and  bubbles  and 
steams.  Some  of  the  larger  geysers  give  tremendous  ex 
hibitions  of  energy.  When  in  action  they  throb,  and  boom 
as  if  thunderstorms  were  at  their  roots,  while  the  column 
of  hot  water  stands  rigid  and  erect,  dissolving  at  the  top  into 
mist  and  spray.  The  great  Excelsior  Geyser,  which  is  un- 
equaled  in  size  the  world  over,  throws  forth  at  irregular 
intervals  to  an  impressive  height  a  column  of  water  fully 
sixty  feet  in  diameter.  The  adjacent  Firehole  River  is 
ordinarily  about  one  hundred  yards  wide  and  three  feet 
deep,  but  when  the  geyser  is  in  eruption  the  volume  of  the 
river  is  doubled  and  it  is  too  hot  and  rapid  to  be  forded. 
Some  of  the  geysers  spout  every  few  minutes,  others  at 
intervals  of  hours  or  days,  and  a  few  at  irregular  intervals 
of  weeks.  The  Giant  Geyser,  in  many  respects  the  finest  of 
all,  spouts  at  intervals  of  six  to  fourteen  days  for  an  hour 
at  a  time.  It  throws  the  water  to  the  unequaled  height  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Old  Faithful,  which  plays 
hourly  for  four  minutes,  gets  into  action  by  sending  its 
water  higher  and  higher  with  graceful  ease  until  the  upheave 
attains  a  height  of  at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet. 
The  largest  spring,  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  is  the 
Prismatic.  It  has  a  circumference  of  three  hundred  yards. 
The  water  is  pure  deep  blue  in  the  center,  but  fades  to  green 
on  the  edges.  Its  basin  and  the  slightly  terraced  pavement 
around  it  are  astonishingly  bright  and  varied  in  color.  One 
of  the  most  notable  of  the  steam  vents  is  that  whose  noise 
gives  the  name  to  Roaring  Mountain. 

The  Yellowstone  plateau  is  a  vast  lava  deposit,  much 
worn  by  glacial  action,  which  has  given  the  region  its  flowing, 
attractive  lines.  The  outpourings  of  ashes,  lava,  and  cinders 
from  the  old  volcanoes  overwhelmed  many  extensive  forests. 
In  Amethyst  Mountain  are  twelve  petrified  forests,  one 


Wyoming 


381 


above  the  other,  buried  at  different  periods.  On  the  moun 
tain  top  the  pines  and  spruces  of  a  new  forest  flourish.  The 
flow  of  a  river  and  other  factors  have  eroded  a  wide  valley 
down  through  the  buried  forests  on  the  northern  flank  of 
Amethyst  Mountain.  The  mud  and  ashes  that  buried  the 
forests  changed  to  stone,  and  mineral  water  circulating  down 
through  the  deposits  gradually  fossilized  the  trees.  Many 
changed  to  opal.  Limbs  and  tops  of  trees  were  broken  of? 
by  the  volcanic  del 
uge,  and  many  trees 
were  overthrown. 
Some  were  as  much 
as  ten  feet  in  diam 
eter  and  of  great 
height. 

Another  curious 
feature  of  the  park 
is  the  Obsidian  Cliff, 
a  mass  of  black  vol 
canic  glass,  which  is 
close  to  the  main 

road  south  of  Mammoth  Hot  Springs.     The  Indians  used  to 
resort  to  it  to  get  material  for  making  arrow  and  spear  heads. 

There  are  thirty-seven  lakes  in  the  park,  the  largest  of 
which  is  Yellowstone  Lake,  whose  irregular  shore  line  has  a 
length  of  one  hundred  miles.  It  exceeds  in  size  that  of  any 
other  lake  at  so  high  an  altitude.  A  network  of  streams 
covers  the  park,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  of  them  have 
names.  Waterfalls  are  numerous.  In  Two  Ocean  Pass, 
on  the  very  summit  of  the  Continental  Divide,  8150  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  is  a  lakelet  whose  waters  in  part 
flow  to  the  Atlantic,  and  in  part  to  the  Pacific. 

The  Yellowstone  River  goes  'thundering  down  into  the 
Grand  Canyon  in  two  magnificent  falls.  The  upper  fall  is 


FISHING  CONE,  YELLOWSTONE  LAKE 


382 


What  to  See  in  America 


MT.  MORAN 


one  hundred  and  twelve  feet  high,  and  the  lower  fall  three 
hundred  and  ten  feet.  Below  the  falls  is  a  canyon  twenty 
miles  long  and  a  thousand  feet  deep,  with  walls  that  for  the 

first  three  miles 
are  wonderfully 
colored. 

A  finishing 
touch  of  beauty 
is  given  to  the 
park  by  its  wild 
flowers.  It  is 
one  vast  summer 
garden  of  them, 
and  you  rarely 
find  a  spot  so 

©Haynes        ^1^    tnat     ^a- 

ture  has  failed  to 

beautify  it  with  blossoms.  They  start  almost  from  under 
the  melting  drifts,  and  persist  in  autumn  until  overwhelmed 
by  snowstorms. 

Yellowstone  Park  is  the  greatest  wild  animal  preserve  in 
the  world.  There  the  animals  are  not  pursued,  trapped,  nor 
shot.  They  are  free  from  the  fear  of  being  killed  by  man, 
and  the  park  is  an  ideal  place  in  which  to  study  their  char 
acter.  None  of  our  big  wild  animals  is  naturally  ferocious. 
They  attack  only  in  self-defense  —  when  cornered  and 
assailed  by  the  hunter  —  or  to  protect  their  young.  Beasts 
of  prey  are  held  in  check  by  the  government,  which  disposes 
of  mountain  lions,  lynxes,  wolves,  coyotes,  wild  cats,  and 
other  animals  when  they  become  too  destructive  or  too 
numerous.  But  even  the  most  undesirable  of  these  seem  to 
be  in  no  danger  of  extinction. 

The  park  has  the  only  herd  of  buffalo  that  still  roams  in 
its  native  freedom,  and  there  are  three  times  as  many  in 


Wyoming  383 

the  tame  herd  winch  is  kept  in  immense  corrals  in  the 
Lamar  Valley.  For  feeding  them  in  winter  hay  is  made 
from  native  grass,  and  from  timothy  grown  on  irrigated 
meadows.  The  wild  herd  has  developed  from  a  few  animals 
that  broke  out  of  a  tame  herd  inclosure  some  years  ago. 

Most  likely  the  only  bears  you  will  see  are  the  half  tame 
ones  that  go  to  the  hotels  every  night  for  table  scraps  — 
baking  powder  biscuit,  canned  stuff,  and  beefsteaks  that 
have  proved  too  tough  for  the  tourists.  They  are  often  a 
great  annoyance  because  of  their  habit  of  breaking  into  tents 
and  buildings  in  search  of  food.  Both  the  grizzly  and  the 
black  species  flourish  in  the  park. 

The  park  has  its  antelope,  and  moose  are  also  found  there. 
The  latter  have  increased  greatly  in  numbers  in  recent 
years.  Their  principal  habitat  is  the  Yellowstone  Valley 
above  the  Lake. 

Deer  abound,  and  are  as  familiar  around  the  buildings  at 
Mammoth  Hot  Springs  as  a  herd  of  domestic  cattle.  There 
are  30,000  elk  in  the  park.  In  severe  snowy  winters,  when 
food  is  scarce  in  the  mountains,  the  park  rangers  scatter 
hay  in  the  valleys,  and  thousands  of  deer  and  elk,  'and 
hundreds  of  Rocky  Mountain  sheep,  come  down  to  feed. 

Beaver  are  abundant  in  nearly  all  the  streams,  and  no 
where  else  in  the  world  can  the  life  of  this  remarkable  animal 
be  studied  to  better  advantage.  There  are  many  otter, 
mink,  and  muskrats.  Among  the  smaller  animals  that  are 
plentiful  are  woodchucks,  red  squirrels,  and  chipmunks. 
Frogs  abound,  and  there  are  three  or  four  species  of  snakes, 
all  harmless. 

You  very  likely  will  not  see  much  of  this  wild  life  if  you 
keep  to  the  main  highways.  To  be  convinced  of  the  abun 
dance  of  game  in  the  park  you  should  travel  the  remoter 
bridle  paths. 

The  most  numerous  birds  are  the  waterfowl  that  frequent 


384 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  lakes  and  streams.  The  pelican  is  an  attractive  feature 
of  Yellowstone  Lake.  Gulls  and  tern  abound,  and  there  are 
many  grebe,  great  blue  herons,  sand-hill  cranes,  mud  hens, 
and  spotted  sandpipers.  Water  ousels  frequent  the  torrents 
of  the  region,  which  apparently  furnish  them  with  an  ideal 
home.  They  are  seen  everywhere  among  the  foaming  cas 
cades  and  on  the  slippery  rocks,  and  they  remain  in  the  park 
the  year  round.  Geese  come  in  great  numbers  to  the 
marshes  and  warm  spring  districts  in  autumn.  There  are 
many  ducks  of  varied  species,  and  they  stay  all  winter 
where  the  water  from  the  hot  springs  keeps  the  streams  open. 
Around  Mammoth  Hot  Springs  they  frequent  the  roads  and 
barnyards  for  food,  and  at  first  sight  resemble  domestic 
flocks.  Sportsmen,  who  recall  their  wariness  elsewhere,  can 
scarcely  believe  they  could  become  so  tame. 

Golden  and  bald  eagles  are  occasionally  seen.     The  osprey 

is  common,  and  several  other  species  of  hawk  are  abundant. 

Their  nests  can  be  s^een  in  considerable  numbers  in  the  tops 

of  dead  pine  trees  along  the  north  shore  of  Yellowstone 

^^^^  Lake, 

The  notes  of  an 
owl  often  reach 
one's  ears  at 
night.  Ravens, 
crows,  and  mag 
pies  are  much  in 
evidence.  The 
•?#**»•  ruffed  grouse  is 

frequently  heard 
A  fa- 


TETON  MOUNTAINS 


or  seen. 


miliar  bird  to  all 

tourist  campers  is  the  Rocky  Mountain  Jay,  or  "camp 
robber,"  as  it  is  commonly  called.  It  could  be  more  truly 
described  as  a  camp  scavenger.  Among  the  better  known 


Wyoming  385 

and  more  numerous  of  the  smaller  birds  are  robins,  bluebirds, 
chickadees,  nuthatches,  tanagers,  meadow  larks,  kingfishers, 
cliff  swallows,  and  woodpeckers. 

Mosquitoes  begin  to  appear  late  in  June,  but  by  August 
have  nearly  disappeared.  Their  reign  is  followed  by  that 
of  several  species  of  horseflies,  which  are  despicably  fierce 
and  voracious.  The  common  house  fly  abounds  and  is  at 
its  worst  in  September.  It  is  an  unmitigated  nuisance  in 
all  camps.  An  exceedingly  diminutive  gnat  flourishes  in  a 
career  of  torture  for  a  brief  period  early  in  the  season. 

The  trout  fishing  that  the  park  affords  cannot  be  excelled. 


2c 


SHEEP  COMING  FROM  A  CORKAL 

XLIII 

Utah 

Utah  is  commonly  called  the  "Mormon  State."  Its  name 
is  that  of  an  Indian  tribe  and  means  "  Dwellers  in  the 
Mountains."  It  is  part  of  an  immense  basin  that  lies 
between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Sierra  Nevada  and 
extends  from  Oregon  on  the  north  eight  hundred  miles 
down  into  Mexico.  The  basin  has  no  outward  drainage, 
and  the  final  receptacle  of  each  of  its  streams  is  some  salt 
lake.  Almost  all  of  Utah  was  once  covered  by  a  great  body 
of  fresh  water,  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long,  and  half 
that  width  at  its  broadest  part.  The  surface  of  this  lake 
was  a  thousand  feet  above  that  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  The 
outlet  was  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  by  way  of  the  Snake  River 
and  the  Columbia.  Great  Salt  Lake  is  eighty  miles  long 
and  thirty  wide.  Three  small  rivers  flow  into  it.  The  water 
of  these  rivers  is  fresh  —  that  is,  the  quantity  of  saline 

386 


Utah  387 

matter  in  it  is  too  small  to  be  discovered  by  taste.  Yet  more 
than  500,000  tons  of  saline  matter  are  brought  to  the  lake 
eaeh  year  by  the  streams.  The  water  is  evaporated,  but 
the  dissolved  solids  cannot  escape  in  that  way.  For  cen 
turies  they  have  accumulated  until  the  lake  water  holds 
nearly  as  much  mineral  substance  as  it  can  retain  in  solution. 
There  is  some  variation  in  the  size  of  the  lake.  Each  year 
it  rises  in  winter  when  the  cool  air  has  little  power  to  absorb 
moisture,  and  continues  to  rise  in  the  spring  when  the  rivers 
are  swollen  by  the  melting  of  snows  in  the  mountains. 
But  in  summer  the  hot  air  rapidly  absorbs  the  water,  and 
toward  the  end  of  the  year  the  level  is  about  sixteen  inches 
below  its  spring  maximum.  The  lake  progressively  rises 
in  a  series  of  wet  years,  and  falls  in  a  series  of  dry  years. 
The  summer  level  of  1877  was  more  than  fourteen  feet  above 
that  of  1903.  So  strong  is  the  brine  that  ice  forms  only  in 
zero  weather.  No  fish  can  live  in  it.  The  only  permanent 
inhabitant  is  a  tiny  "brine  shrimp,"  a  third  of  an  inch  in 
length.  A  minute  fly  passes  its  larval  stage  in  the  water 
and  leaves  behind  it  the  discarded  skin.  These  brown  skins 
darken  the  water's  edge  and  often  sully  broad  belts  of  the 
lake  surface.  Fortunately  the  swarming  flies  do  not  bite. 
The  salt  spray  is  fatal  to  all  land  vegetation,  and  there  are 
no  shoal-water  plants.  Although  the  lake  is  so  salty,  some 
of  its  many  islands  have  on  them  fresh-water  springs  of 
rare  excellence.  Certain  of  the  smaller  islands  are  favorite 
nesting  places  of  gulls  and  pelicans.  Great  Salt  Lake  was 
discovered  in  1824  by  the  pioneer  trapper,  Jim  Bridger,  who 
at  first  thought  it  an  arm  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  earliest 
white  man  to  navigate  the  lake's  buoyant  waters  was  Gen. 
Fremont  on  his  way  to  Oregon  in  1842. 

Utah  was  settled  in  1847  by  the  Mormons,  as  they  are 
called,  but  who  prefer  to  style  themselves  the  "Latter-day 
Saints  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ."  The  first  arrivals 


388 


What  to  See  in  America 


were  one  hundred  and  forty-one  men  and  three  women  who 
started  from  the  Elk  Horn  River  near  Omaha  on  April  9. 
Their  leader  was  Brigham  Young.  They  traveled  in  squads 
of  ten,  each  of  which  had  a  wagon,  two  oxen,  two  milch 
cows,  and  a  tent.  An  average  day's  journey  was  thirteen 
miles.  When  they  began  to  come  through  the  canyons  of 
the  Wasatch  Mountains  in  July  they  looked  down  on  a 
valley  bare  of  tree  or  shrub,  except  for  sagebrush,  patches 
of  chaparral,  and  here  and  there  a  gnarled  willow  or  cotton- 
wood.  One  of  the  women  was  so  overcome  by  the  desolation 
that  she  said,  "  Weak  and  weary  as  I  am,  I  would  rather  go 
a  thousand  miles  farther  than  stop  in  this  forsaken  place." 
But  the  company  at  once  began  the  work  of  permanently 
establishing  themselves.  They  irrigated  and  plowed,  and 
trees  were  hauled  from  the  mountains  to  use  in  constructing 
the  embryo  town  of  Salt  Lake  City.  They  built  huts  of 
logs  and  adobe,  and  a  bowery  which  for  a  time  was  church, 
courthouse,  and  capitol.  Only  three  months  after  the  pioneer 
entry  a  school  was  opened  in  a  tent  with  hewn  slabs  and 
sections  of  logs  for  seats  and  desks.  In  May  and  June  of  the 
next  year  the  settlers  had  to  fight  a  scourge  of  Rocky  Moun 
tain  crickets  which  in 
vaded  the  fields  and  gar 
dens  in  countless  hordes. 
The  people  had  been  re 
duced  to  despair  when  a 
great  flight  of  gulls  ar 
rived  arid  devoured  the 
crickets  with  such  vo 
racity  that  few  escaped. 
Since  then  the  gulls  have 
been  sacred  in  Utah. 
Each  spring  they  come  to 

BALANCE  ROCK  ON  WILSON  MESA          the     land    that     is     being 


Utah 


389 


THE  WITCHES,  NEAR  ECHO 


plowed,  and  so  con 
fident  are  they  of 
their  safety  that  they 
can  be  approached 
almost  within  arm's  ^ 
length. 

In  1849  it  was  pro 
posed  to  establish  a 
state  government 
and  to  call  the  state 
"Deseret,"  a  name  that  occurs  in  the  Book  of  Mormon, 
and  which  means  "the  honeybee."  The  hive,  expressive  of 
the  characteristic  industry  and  thrift  of  the  people,  was 
chosen  as  the  symbol  and  seal  of  the  prospective  state. 
But  not  until  1894  was  statehood  granted  by  Congress. 

Salt  Lake  City  was  on  the  road  to  the  gold  regions  when 
the  gold  fever  was  at  its  height,  and  the  settlers  found  a 
ready  market  for  anything  they  could  produce  from  the 
soil.  Merchandise  was  brought  in  by  fleets  of  prairie 
schooners.  Up  to  1871  the  original  settlers  lived  apart  from 
the  rest  of  the  world,  but  mining  discoveries  brought  an 
incursion  of  Gentile  population,  and  the  Gentiles  have 
steadily  grown  more  numerous  in  Utah  ever  since,  though  the 
Mormons  are  still  the  dominant  sect.  Salt  Lake  City,  which 
is  the  capital  and  the  largest  place  in  the  state,  is  fast  be 
coming  a  great  metropolis.  Its  situation  is  admirable  in  the 
spacious  valley  with  mountains  near  at  hand.  The  streets 
are  wide  and  shaded  with  trees,  and  each  house  in  the 
residence  section  has  grounds  about  it,  giving  an  effect 
that  is  cool  and  agreeable.  Temple  Block,  the  Sacred  Square 
of  the  Mormons,  lies  near  the  center  of  the  city.  Here  are 
the  many-pinnacled  granite  temple  and  the  great  mushroom- 
shaped  tabernacle,  whose  dome  is  one  of  the  largest  un 
supported  arches  in  the  world.  The  latter  building  has  a 


390  What  to  See  in  America 

seating  capacity  of  8000  and  can  accommodate  half  as 
many  more.  It  is  equipped  with  one  of  the  largest  and 
sweetest-toned  pipe  organs  ever  made.  The  corner  stone 
of  the  temple  was  laid  in  1853,  but  not  until  forty  years 
later  was  the  structure  completed.  It  cost  $6,000,000.  On 
South  Temple  Street  are  two  of  the  houses  that  Brigham 
Young  shared  with  his  numerous  wives  —  the  Lion  House, 
with  a  lion  over  the  entrance,  and  the  Beehive  House,  sur 
mounted  by  a  beehive.  In  few  cities  is  electric  energy  more 
generally  utilized.  The  street  cars  are  driven  by  the  power 
of  a  mountain  cataract  thirty-five  miles  away.  Streets, 
public  buildings,  and  dwellings  are  lighted  from  the  same 
source,  and  the  factories  and  industrial  establishments  are 
electrically  operated. 

No  summer  visit  to  Salt  Lake  City  is  complete  without  a 
trip  to  Saltair  Beach,  eighteen  miles  west,  where  is  to  be  had 
the  most  unique  bathing  in  the  world,  in  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 

^  You  can  frolic  in 
the  water  as  you 
please  without 
fear  of  drowning. 
The  body  floats 
like  a  cork,  and  if 
you  balance  your 
self  in  an  upright 
position  your 
head  and  shoul- 

SALT  WORKS,  GREAT  SALT  LAKE  -,  i 

ders   are   above 

the  surface.  Among  Saltair 's  pleasure  resort  attractions  is 
one  of  the  largest  dancing  pavilions  in  existence. 

The  water  of  the  lake  is  one  quarter  salt.  To  secure  the 
salt  for  commercial  purposes  three  or  four  hundred  acres  of 
land  on  the  borders  of  the  lake  are  diked  oft',  leveled,  and 
cleaned.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  water  is  pumped  from 


Utah 


391 


the  lake  into  great  reservoirs,  and  later  is  pumped  into  the 

harvesting  pond  to  a  depth  of  six  inches.     This  depth  is 

maintained   against   the   rapid   evaporation   by   constantly 

adding  water  until,   at   the  end  of  the   season,  there  are 

four  or  more  inches  of  damp  salt  on  the  bed.     When  most 

of  the  remaining  water  has  evaporated,  lines  of  plank  are 

laid    on    the    salt,    and 

men   with   wheelbarrows 

gather    and    pile    it    in 

heaps  that  each  contain 

about  2000  tons.     For  a 

short   period   it  remains 

in  the  piles  to  thoroughly 

drain,  and  after  that  it 

is  either   shipped    away 

just  as  it  is  to  feed  cattle 

and  sheep,  or  goes  into 

a    refinery   where    it    is 

ground    and    sifted    and 

packed  for  household  use. 

The  Southern   Pacific 
Railroad,  which  formerly 

went  around  the  north  end  of  the  lake,  now  crosses  it  in 
the  middle  west  of  Ogden  on  a  trestle  twenty-nine  miles 
long  that  cost  $4,500,000.  Forty-three  miles  of  distance  are 
saved,  and  a  climb  of  1500  feet. 

At  Salduro,  a  hundred  miles  west  of  Salt  Lake  City,  beyond 
the  Oquirrh  Mountains,  is  an  enormous  bed  of  solid  salt 
sixty  miles  long  with  an  average  width  of  fifteen  miles  and  a 
depth  of  nearly  twenty  feet.  That  means  not  less  than  thirty 
billion  tons  of  salt,  and  this  salt  is  ninety-eight  per  cent  pure. 
It  is  so  solid  that  when  a  telegraph  line  was  established 
across  it,  power  drills  drove  small  holes  four  feet  deep,  and 
then  dynamite  was  used  to  enlarge  the  holes  so  the  poles 


DEVIL'S  SLIDE 


392 


What  to  See  in  America 


could  be  set  in  them. 
Grooving  machines 
hauled  by  six-tori  motor 
trucks  are  used  for  cut 
ting  the  surface  into 
squares,  and  when  the 
blocks  of  salt  have  been 
split  out  they  have  to 
be  sawed  into  mer 
chantable  shape.  Much 
of  the  salt  is  shipped 
in  the  solid  chunks, 
but  a  portion  goes 
through  the  refining 
process  at  Salt  Lake 
City.  Kit  Carson  de 
clared  that  this  expanse 
of  salt  was  the  only 
true  desert  in  America. 

On  its  entire  extent  not  one  atom  of  animal  or  vegetable  life 
has  ever  been  found.  It  is  a  region  of  mysteries  and  decep 
tions.  A  man  a  mile  away  assumes  gigantic  proportions. 
An  automobile  in  rapid  motion  appears  to  be  moving  through 
the  air.  Mountains  fifty  miles  away  seem  to  be  within  easy 
strolling  distance.  The  silence  is  weirdly  oppressive.  Even 
the  wind  has  to  put  forth  a  vigorous  effort  to  be  heard,  for 
there  is  nothing  to  interrupt  it  and  cause  any  sound.  But 
the  beat  of  a  horse's  hoofs  on  the  salt  can  be  heard  for  miles, 
and  a  watch  laid  on  it  ticks  like  a  great  hall  clock.  One  of 
Salduro's  claims  to  fame  is  that  a  world's  record  for  auto 
mobile  speeding  was  made  on  this  glaring  white  salt  desert. 
In  Weber  Canyon,  southwest  of  Ogden,  where  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  comes  through  the  Wasatch  Mountains,  is 
the  Devil's  Slide,  in  plain  sight  from  the  trains.  It  consists 


FOREST  RANGER  IN  LOGAN  CANYON 


Utah  393 

of  two  eroded  limestone  reefs  twenty  feet  apart  that  stand 
out  forty  feet  from  the  general  slope  of  the  canyon  side  and 
go  from  the  base  far  up  the  height. 

Brigham,  twenty-one  miles  west  of  Ogden,  is  almost  com 
pletely  hidden  in  peach  orchards,  and  is  called  the  Peach 
City.  Early  in  September  it  celebrates  Peach  Day,  and  on 
that  day  there  are  free  peaches  and  plums  and  melons  for 
all  the  thousands  of  people  who  visit  the  city.  At  Dewey, 
far  up  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  may  be  seen  thou 
sands  of  acres  of  sugar  beets,  and  three  miles  to  the  west  is  a 
million-dollar  beet-sugar  factory. 

Directly  north  of  Great  Salt  Lake  the  first  girding  of  the 
continent  with  a  railroad  was  completed  at  Promontory  in 
1869.  While  the  Union  Pacific  had  been  moving  west,  the 
Central  Pacific  had  been  building  east  from  San  Francisco. 
On  the  morning  of  May  10  a  company  of  railroad  officials, 
amid  a  mixed  crowd  of  six  hundred  Mormons,  Mexicans, 
Indians,  Chinese,  negroes,  bullwhackers,  mule-skinners,  and 
frontiersmen  gathered  to  lay  the  last  tie.  This  was  of 
California  laurel  beautifully  polished.  When  it  was  put  in 
place,  a  spike  of  gold,  silver,  and  iron  from  Arizona,  and 
one  of  silver  from  Nevada  were  driven.  Lastly  a  spike  of 
California  gold  was  pounded  into  the  tie  with  a  silver  sledge 
by  Leland  Stanford.  The  completion  of  the  road  was  an 
nounced  by  telegraph  throughout  the  nation,  and  cannon 
boomed  and  bells  rang  in  every  city  in  the  land. 

A  particularly  interesting  trip  from  Salt  Lake  City  is 
thirteen  miles  southeast  to  Heber.  After  passing  through 
Parleys  and  Provo  Canyons  the  road  reaches  an  altitude  of 
7310  feet.  One  of  the  unique  mountain  resorts  along  the 
way  is  Midway  Hot  Pots,  a  curious  freak  of  nature  akin  to 
the  Yellowstone  Geysers.  The  state's  loftiest  mountain  is 
east  of  here  in  Wasatch  County.  It  is  Kings  Peak,  13,498 
feet  high. 


394 


What  to  See  in  America 


In  the  southwestern  corner  of  Utah,  near  the  Nevada 
boundary,  are  the  Mountain  Meadows,  four  or  five  miles  in 
length  and  one  mile  wide.  Here  a  party  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-six  emigrants  with  six  hundred  cattle  on  their  way 
to  Southern  California  camped  September  5,  1857.  That 
night  their  cattle  were  driven  off,  and  at  dawn  they  were 
attacked  by  Indians.  After  withstanding  a  siege  of  five 
days  a  party  of  Mormons  under  the  pretense  of  friendship 
came  to  their  relief.  As  the  Mormons  were  taking  the 
distressed  emigrants  to  supposed  safety  they  began  a  traitor 
ous  massacre  while  still  in  the  valley.  Three  men  got  away, 
but  were  slain  afterward.  The  rest  of  the  men,  and  the 
women,  and  even  the  children  not  under  eight  years  of  age 
were  killed.  Most  of  the  corpses  were  scalped  by  the  Indians, 
and  finally  they  were  piled  in  heaps  in  a  ravine  and  a  little 
earth  thrown  over  them.  This  was  washed  off  by  the  first 
rains,  leaving  the  remains  to  be  devoured  by  wolves  and 
coyotes,  who  dragged  away  the  bones  and  scattered  them 
for  a  mile  round  about.  Two  years  after  the  massacre  a  de 
tachment  of  United  States  troops  interred  the  remains,  and 

over  the  last  rest 
ing  place  of  the 
victims  a  corie- 
shaped  cairn 
twelve  feet  high 
was  erected.  The 
survivors  of  the 
slaughter  were 
seventeen  little 
children.  They 
were  scattered 
among  Mormon 
families  at  vari- 
NATURAL  BRIDGE  IN  UTAH  DESERT  OUS  points  in  the 


Utah 


395 


RAINBOW  NATURAL  BRIDGE 


territory,  but  all  were 
recovered  in  about  a 
year  and  sent  to  rela 
tives  in  Arkansas. 
Those  concerned  in 
the  massacre  had 
pledged  themselves 
by  the  most  solemn 
oaths  to  secrecy,  and 
to  insist  that  the 
slaughter  was  wholly 
the  work  of  Indians. 
Hut  suspicion  was 
aroused,  and  John  T. 
Lee,  who  was  chiefly 
responsible  for  the 
tragedy,  became 

alarmed  and  left  Utah  to  hide  in  a  cave  in  the  Grand  Canyon 
of  the  Colorado  River.  There  he  remained  Tor  years. 
When  arrested,  he  was  found  in  a  hogpen  at  a  small  settle 
ment  in  southern  Utah.  A  trial  proved  his  guilt  and  showed 
that  the  Mormon  Church  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  mas 
sacre.  Lee  was  executed  March  23,  1877,  near  the  cairn  at 
the  Mountain  Meadows,  by  the  bullets  of  a  military  guard. 
Some  of  the  most  notable  scenery  in  the  state  is  in  the 
extreme  southwest  portion  on  the  borders  of  Arizona.  The 
upper  valley  of  the  Virgin  River  here  is  a  wonderland  of 
magnificent  canyons  and  heights.  One  of  the  branches  of 
the  river  is  the  Mukoontowrap,  the  valley  of  which  is 
called  Little  Zion  by  the  Mormons.  Near  the  outlet  is 
Great  Temple  Butte,  which  rises  4000  feet  above  the 
stream.  It  is  a  stupendous  vertical  uplift  of  many-colored 
rock  that  has  never  been  ascended.  The  valley  contracts 
farther  up  to  a  canyon  with  walls  less  than  a  score  of  feet 


396  What  to  See  in  America 

apart,  and  1500  feet  deep.     There  is  an  extravagant  play 
of  color  throughout  the  region. 

Utah  has  four  natural  bridges  in  the  deserts  of  the  south 
eastern  part  of  the  state  that  are  unexcelled  in  impressiveness 
and  in  wildness  of  setting.  Three  of  these  are  not  far  apart, 
and  the  largest  of  the  three  has  a  span  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  and  a  height  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  feet. 
On  the  borders  of  Arizona,  sixty-five  miles  to  the  southwest,  is 
Rainbow  Natural  Bridge,  the  largest  in  the  world,  with  a 
span  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine  feet  and  a  height  of 
three  hundred  and  nine.  Not  until  1909  was  it  seen  by  white 
men.  The  Navajos  hold  it  in  great  reverence,  and  before 
they  will  pass  under  this  rosy-hued  tremendous  arch  of 
stone  they  say  a  prayer  to  it. 


PIKES  PEAK,  THE  "MONUMENT  OF  THE  CONTINENT" 


XLIV 

Colorado 

The  "Backbone  of  the  Continent"  is  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
which  are  also  aptly  called  the  "  Roof  of  America."  Their 
main  range,  known  as  the  Continental  Divide,  parts  the 
waters  that  flow  toward  the  Atlantic  from  those  that  flow 
toward  the  Pacific.  The  name  Rockies  fairly  describes  the 
mountains,  for  enormous  crags  and  bold  peaks  of  bare  rock 
are  omnipresent.  The  altitudes  are  too  high  and  the  rain 
fall  of  the  region  is  too  light  to  encourage  vegetation,  which 
might  hold  the  disintegrating  rock  material  and  clothe  the 
heights  with  soil  and  greenery.  Deep  chasms  have  been 
worn  by  the  streams,  and  these  channels  are  seldom  bordered 
by  alluvial  intervales. 

Colorado  is  preeminently  the  Rocky  Mountain  State.     It 
has  fully  thirty-five  peaks  that  are  over  14,000  feet  high, 

397 


398 


What  to  See  in  America 


and  more  than  one  hundred  others  that  exceed  13,000  feet. 
The  peak  that  overtops  all  the  rest  is  Mt.  Elbert,  a  few  miles 
southwest  of  Leadville,  with  an  altitude  of  14,402  feet. 
The  name  of  the  state  is  Spanish.  It  means  "Colored  red" 
and  is  descriptive  of  the  water  in  the  river  of  the  same 
name.  Colorado  is  called  the  "  Centennial  State  "  in  allusion 
to  the  fact  that  it  was  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1776  when 
the  nation  celebrated  its  hundredth  birthday.  Its  people 
are  nicknamed  "Rovers,"  which  refers  to  the  disposition  of 
the  settlers  at  the  time  of  the  Pikes  Peak  gold  fever. 

The  Colorado  region  was  partially  explored  in  1806  by 
Lieut.  Zebulon  M.  Pike.  In  1820  the  explorer  Long  crossed 
the  spot  where  Denver  now  stands.  He  reported  that  all  the 
region  west  of  the  Missouri  was  "  uninhabitable  by  a  people 
depending  on  agriculture  for  their  subsistence."  After  that 
the  Great  American  Desert  took  possession  on  our  maps  of 
that  vast  tract  of  country.  The  first  overland  emigrants  to 
the  Pacific  coast  crossed  the  state  in  1841.  Colonists  who 


\\-i.tirrU  Bros. 


Colorado 


399 


came  from  New  Mexico  in  1854  founded  Conejos  on  the 
southern  border  of  Colorado  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande. 
In  1858  a  few  settlers  laid  out  the  town  of  St.  Charles 
among  the  cottonwoods  on  the  east  side  of  Cherry  Creek, 
where  the  creek  joins  the  Platte.  That  same  year  another 
party  laid  out  a  town  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  creek  and 
called  it  Auralia.  Then  came  a  third  party,  when  the 
St.  Charles  town  site  promoters  were  absent,  jumped  the 
layout,  and  started  to  develop  a  town  which  they  named 
Denver  City  in  honor  of  the  governor  of  Kansas.  It  was 
about  the  most  desolate  spot  on  earth,  and  they  were  afraid 
the  name  was  all  there  ever  would  be  to  the  place.  In  order 
to  boost  it  as  much  as  they  could  they  put  "City"  on  the 
end.  The  early  cabins  that  were  erected  here  and  in  the 
other  settlements  were  just  hovels  with  walls  of  logs.  The 
cracks  were  chinked  with  small  sticks  and  mud,  and  the 
roofs  were  made  of  poles  slanting  down  from  the  peak  to  the 


Photo  by  Wiswell  Bros. 

YACHTING  WATERS  iisr  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  NATIONAL  PARK 


400 


What  to  See  in  America 


LONGS  PEAK  FROM  THE  ENTRANCE  TO  GLACIER  GORGE 

eaves  and  covered  with  grass  and  dirt.  For  doors  logs  were 
split  and  hewed  down  to  rough  boards,  and,  after  boring 
holes,  wooden  pins  were  used  to  fasten  the  boards  together. 
The  hinges  were  of  wood  or  rawhide.  No  glass  was  avail 
able,  and  the  window  openings  were  closed  with  old  sacks. 
A  new  gold  fever  was  on,  and  in  the  spring  of  1859  many 
hundreds  of  newcomers  camped  in  and  around  the  towns  of 
Auralia  and  Denver  City.  Report  says  150,000  men 
started  across 
the  plains  that 
spring,  and  gen 
erally  they  had 
painted  on  their 
wagon  covers 
"Pikes  Peak  or 
Bust."  Yet  a 
third  of  them 
turned  back,  and 

not    half    of    the  TOP  OF  MORAINE,  ESTES  PARK 


Colorado 


401 


LONGS  PEAK  FROM  THE  "HIGH-DRIVE" 


rest  who  went  on  into  the  mountains  stayed.  Gold  in  pay 
ing  quantities  was  far  from  common.  One  man,  instead  of 
seeking  a  will-o'-the-wisp  fortune  in  the  yellow  sands,  settled 
down  near  Denver  and  became  wealthy  raising  potatoes. 
He  was  known  as  "Potato  Clark."  A  printing  outfit  arrived 
in  Denver  April  21,  1859,  and  two  days  later  was  issued  the 
first  number  of  the  first  paper  printed  in  Colorado.  Early 
in  1863  a  fire  destroyed  much  of  the  business  portion  of 
Denver.  The  following;  summer  a  terrible  drought  parched 

the  plains,  and  then 
came  a  winter,  cold 
beyond  all  previ 
ous  experience,  that 
caused  much  suffer 
ing  among  the  people 
and  killed  many 
cattle.  In  the  spring 
Cherry  Creek,  which 

A  BIGHORN  SHEEP  Was  Usually  more 

2D 


402 


What  to  See  in  America 


sand  than  stream,  rose  in  fury,  swept  away  the  flimsy 
bridges,  and  destroyed  twenty  lives  and  nearly  a  million 
dollars'  worth  of  property.  The  Indians  went  on  the  war 
path  that  year,  killed  a  number  of  persons  near  the  city, 
cut  off  all  communications  with  the  East,  and  left  Denver 
greatly  alarmed  with  only  six  weeks'  supply  of  food.  On 
November  29  of  the  same  year  a  government  force  of  seven 
hundred  men  made  a  surprise  attack  at  dawn  on  an  Indian 
camp  beside  Big  Sandy  Creek,  forty  miles  northeast  from 
Fort  Lyon,  which  was  a  frontier  post  on  the  north  bank  of 

the  Arkansas,  thirty 
miles  east  of  La 
Junta.  The  soldiers 
showed  a  savagery 
which  the  foe  could 
hardly  have  ex 
ceeded.  In  this 
Sand  Creek  Mas 
sacre,  as  it  is  called, 
they  slew  about 
nine  hundred  men, 
women,  and  chil 
dren  .  Hardly  one  of 
the  Indians  escaped. 
The  whites  lost  ten 
in  killed  and  fatally 
wounded. 

In  the  several  pre 
ceding  years  a  large 
amount  of  gold  had 
been  taken  out  of 
the  easily  worked 
placer  mines,  but 

ASPEN  GROVE  IN  ESTES  PARK  now     the    supply 


Colorado 


403 


seemed  exhausted, 
and  not  until  proper 
processes  were  dis 
covered  and  adopted 
for  mining  and  ore 
reducing  was  there  a 
new  boom.  The 
Union  Pacific  Rail 
road  reached  Denver 
in  1870,  and  the 
place  afterward  rap 
idly  developed  into 
the  "Queen  City  of 
the  Plains."  It  is  the 
state's  capital  and  largest 
Rockv  Mountains  loom  in 


LAKE  N ANITA 


WINTER  SPORT 

city.  Not  far  to  the  west  the 
an  unbroken  line  along  the  hori- 
.,  zon,  and  one  of  the 
city's  striking  features 
is  the  way  you  can 
look  up  so  many  of  its 
streets  and  see  the 
mountain  heights  fill 
ing  the  end  of  the  vista. 
It  has  a  reputation  of 
its  own  as  the  "City 
of  Lights,"  so  bril 
liant  is  the  illumination 
of  the  streets,  public 
buildings,  and  business 
blocks.  The  museum 
in  the  City  Park  con 
tains  an  interesting 
collection  of  Colorado 
animals. 


404 


What  to  See  in  America 


If  you  are  to  spend  a 
summer  in  Denver  and 
the  adjacent  mountains, 
you  would  do  well  to 
have  stout  footwear,  a 
sweater  or  overcoat,  and 
a  khaki  suit  for  climbing 
and  long  walks.  Denver 
itself  is  over  5000  feet 
above  the  sea,  and  on 
account  of  this  altitude 
the  air  is  lighter  than  in 
most  regions.  The  air 
is  also  notably  free  from 
dampness.  You  always 
find  the  shade  cool  even 
in  the  middle  of  the 
day,  and  you  can  be  sure 
of  having  cool  nights. 
With  Denver  for  head 
quarters  you  can  take 
thirty-eight  rail,  trolley, 
and  automobile  trips, 

many  of  which  require  no  more  time  for  each  than  a  single 
day.  Among  the  recreations  to  be  had  at  the  mountain 
resorts  are  riding,  picnicking,  climbing,  wild-flower  excur 
sions,  hunting,  fishing,  swimming,  boating,  golf,  and  tennis. 
One  of  Denver's  most  remarkable  enterprises  has  been  the 
acquisition  of  a  series  of  ten  Mountain  Parks,  embracing  a 
total  area  of  five  square  miles  of  rugged  cliffs  and  shadowy 
valleys.  The  nearest  one  is  twelve  miles  from  the  city.  A 
trip  of  sixty-five  miles  to  include  them  all  can  be  made  over 
excellent  roads  by  automobile  in  an  afternoon.  To  buy  and 
develop  these  parks  has  cost  about  half  a  million  dollars. 


CHASM  LAKE  AND  LONGS  PEAK 


Colorado 


405 


Nine  miles 
northwest  of 
Denver  is  Bowl- 
der  Canyon, 
whence  drives 
may  be  made  to 
the  picturesque 
Gregory  and 
Sunshine  can 
yons.  The  moun 
tains  and  gorges 
have  many  mines 
that  produce  a 
fabulous  wealth 
of  gold  and  silver,  and  the 


FALLS  BELOW  CHASM  LAKE 


BEAVER  DAM  NEAR  ESTES  PARK 


hole  district  is  dotted  with 
mining  towns,  some  of 
which  are  reached  by  rail 
ways  that  show  most 
startling  and  daring  meth 
ods  of  construction.  A 
particularly  attractive  ex 
cursion  from  Denver  is  by 
railroad  seventy  miles  to 
the  summit  of  Mt.  Mc- 
Clellan.  You  pass  through 
Golden,  Colorado's  cap 
ital  from  1862  to  1868, 
and  enter  Clear  Creek 
Canyon,  where  the  earli 
est  discovery  of  gold  in 
the  state  was  made,  and 
as  you  go  on,  twisting 
and  turning  to  follow  the 
vagaries  of  the  rushing 


406 


What  to  See  in  America 


torrent,  you  look 
up  to  see  Mother 
Grundy  and 
Hanging  Rock. 
Some  of  the  cliffs 
are  a  thousand 
feet  high;  and 
along  the  way 
are  great  mines, 
and  enormous 
dumps  of  gold 
and  silver  ore. 
You  pass  Idaho 
Springs,  frequented 


MT.  OTIS 


for  its  hot  and 


ODESSA  LAKE 


cold  mineral  springs. 
Beyond  the  popular 
summer  resort  of 
Georgetown  the  rail 
road  passes  through 
the  Devil's  Gate  and 
climbs  upward  by 
the  famous  loop  that 
bends  back  on  itself 
and  crosses  the  track 
previously  traversed 
by  a  lofty  bridge. 
The  distance  from 
the  valley  to  Silver 
Plume  on  the  upland 
is  only  a  mile  in  a 
direct  line,  but  by 
the  sinuous  railroad 
is  over  four  miles. 
The  upward  journey 
continues  by  a  zig- 


Colorado 


407 


BEAR  LARK 


the  range  the  back  view 
and  you  can  see  six 
tracks  one  above  the 
other  forming  the 
great  "Ladder  to 
Cloudland"  that 
you  have  just  as 
cended.  A  little 
farther  on  is  an 
other  big  gulch,  and 
you  look  down  an 
almost  perpendicu 
lar  slope  to  a  lake 
2000  feet  below.  At 
Waldorf  is  the  high 
est  post  office  in  the 
world,  11,666  feet 
above  the  ocean. 
When  you  reach 
timber  line  you  find 
that  the  side  of  Mt. 


zag  course  that 
is  negotiated  by 
switching.  The 
track  clings  to  a 
cliff  of  rugged 
rocks,  and  you 
look  down  on 
mills  and  vil 
lages,  and  over 
to  mountains 
honeycombed 
with  mines. 
Where  you  cross 
commands  a  descent  of  3000  feet, 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  UPSILON  LAKE 


408 


What  to  See  in  America 


McClellan  is  clothed 
with  wild  flowers, 
among  which  the  colum 
bine  predominates.  At 
the  summit  are  tre 
mendous  upheavals  all 
about,  and  one  hundred 
and  six  prominent  peaks 
are  visible  in  the  vast 
panorama.  You  feel 
lost  amid  this  sea  of 
mountain  peaks  —  this 
silent  chaos  of  immens 
ity.  One  of  the  sur 
prises  of  the  height  is 
I  .»'>**».,  A  A.I. .  ^M  the  ice  palaces,  whose 

TYNDALL  GLACIER  ABOVE  DREAM  LAKE       Walls     flash     and     glint 

with    fairy -like   beauty 

and  strangeness  as  they  reflect  the  lights  the  visitors  carry. 
In  1915  a  section  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  fifty  miles 
northwest  of  Denver,  chosen  as  representative  of  the  noblest 
qualities  of  the 
mountain  region, 
was  set  aside  as  the 
Rocky  Mountain 
National  Park.  The 
area  of  the  park  is 
about  four  hundred 
square  miles,  and  it 
includes  a  twenty- 
five-mile  stretch  of 
the  most  rugged  sec 
tion  of  the  Conti- 
nental  Divide.  Here  s.  o.  s. 


Colorado 


409 


WEST  SPANISH  PEAK 


are  fifty  peaks  with 
summits  more  than 
two  miles  high.  The 
mountains  are  span 
gled  or  completely 
covered  with  snow 
during  the  greater 
part  of  the  year. 
The  first  settler 
within  the  limits  of 
what  is  now  the  park 
was  Joel  Estes,  who 

came  in  1860,  and  from  whom  the  broad  valley  gateway  has 
been  named.  He  built  a  cabin  on  Willow  Creek  in  the  foot 
hills.  For  many  years  after  that  the  region  was  visited  by 
hunters  who  followed  the  deer  and  elk  and  trapped  the 
beaver  in  the  valleys,  and  who  shot  the  bear  and  mountain 
sheep  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  heights. 

The  glacial  epoch  has  not  closed  in  the  higher  parts  of  the 
park.  The  one  condition  necessary  for  the  formation  of  a 
glacier  is  an  excess  of  accumulated  snow  over  waste.  In  a 
region  where  there  is  a  heavy  snowfall  during  the  winter  the 
snowfields  endure  throughout  the  summer  at  much  lower 

altitudes  than 
when  the  snow 
fall  is  light.  On 
Mt.  Rainier, 
where  the  annual 
snowfall  exceeds 
twenty  feet,  the 
glacial  ice  ex 
tends  down 
within  4000  feet 

FOREST  FIRE  ON  SOUTH  BOWLDER  CREEK  of  sea  level  ;    but 


410 


What  to  See  in  America 


in  the  Rocky  Mountain 
National  Park,  where 
the  annual  snowfall  is 
less  than  ten  feet,  the 
glaciers  do  not  extend 
much  lower  than  12,000 
feet  above  the  sea  level. 
As  the  snow  piles  up  it 
gradually  solidifies  into 
ice,  and  when  the  ice 
attains  sufficient  thick 
ness  it  begins  to  move, 
if  there  is  any  down 
ward  path  of  escape, 
and  becomes  a  glacier. 
Side  by  side  in  the 
park  are  the  two  dom 
inating  heights^  Longs 
Peak,  14,255  feet  high, 
and  Mt.  Meeker,  a  trifle 
lower.  Longs  Peak  is  a  vast  wild  monolith  of  granite  that 
is  usually  nearly  free  of  ice  and  snow.  It  is  a  hard  day's 
climb  to  the  summit.  There  is  perhaps  no  place  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  where  the  curious  gnarled  and  stunted 
trees  which  develop  near  timber  line  can  be  seen  to  better 
advantage  than  on  the  side  of  Longs  Peak.  They  occupy 
a  narrow  belt  at  an  altitude  of  about  11,500  feet.  The  same 
species  of  trees  which,  lower  down,  are  tall  and  straight,  are 
here  strangely  dwarfed  and  twisted.  These  stunted  trees 
grow  very  slowly.  The  average  trunk  or  branch  increases  in 
diameter  about  an  inch  in  a  century ;  and  yet  some  of  the 
trees  have  trunks  as  much  as  three  feet  in  diameter.  The 
cold  is  excessive,  and  the  strong  winter  winds  tear  the  snow- 
flakes  into  minute  ice  crystals,  and  hurl  them  with  such  force 


MONTEZUMA  MOUNTAIN 


Colorado 


411 


MT.  WII-SON 


that  they  act  in 
much  the  same 
way  as  a  sand 
blast.  They  cut 
the  bark  from 
the  windward 
side  of  the  trees, 
and  shear  off  the 
tender  twigs  that 
have  started  in 
exposed  places 
during  the  pre 
vious  summer.  The  prevailing  westerly  wind  bends  the 
trees  so  that  many  have  the  appearance  of  trying  to  escape. 
In  some  places  the  trees  develop  only  where  they  are  afforded 
special  protection,  such  as  the  leeward  side  of  a  bowlder. 
In  this  struggle  with  wind  and  flying  sand,  cold,  and  nine 
months  of  snow  they  seldom  attain  a  height  of  over  eight 
feet,  and  many  grow  along  the  ground  like  vines. 

The  gentler  slopes  of  the  Continental  Divide  are  on  the 
west,  a  heavily  wooded  region  diversified  by  gloriously 
modeled  mountain  masses,  and  watered  by  many  streams 

and  rock-bound 
lakes.  On  the 
east  side  the  de 
scent  from  the 
main  ridge  is 
steep  in  the  ex 
treme.  Preci 
pices  plunge  two 
or  three  thou 
sand  feet  into 
gorges  car- 

BLUFFS  OF  GREEN  RIVER  peted  with  snow 


412  What  to  See  in  America 

patches  and  wild  flowers.  The  cliff-cradled  valleys  of  the 
park  can  hardly  be  excelled  for  wildness.  There  are  more 
than  one  hundred  lakes  and  tarns  in  the  park,  most  of  them 
in  basins  of  solid  rock  excavated  by  glaciers.  Chasm  Lake, 
at  the  foot  of  the  precipitous  eastern  slope  of  Longs  Peak,  is 
particularly  notable  for  its  romantic  setting.  Many  moraines 
have  been  left  by  the  old-time  glaciers,  and  one  of  these 
deposits  is  at  least  a  thousand  feet  high. 

Bees  hum  in  the  park,  butterflies  flutter  in  the  sunny  air, 
birds  make  the  forest  depths  melodious,  mountain  sheep 
watch  from  the  cliffs,  trout  lurk  in  the  streams,  and  the  bark 
of  the  coyote  is  heard  after  the  sun  has  set.  Elk  are  in 
creasing,  deer  are  common,  and  there  are  black  bears,  foxes, 
and  wolves.  In  many  places  are  extensive  beaver  colonies 
with  dams,  ponds,  and  houses.  Flowers  grow  wherever  there 
is  a  bit  of  soil  for  them  to  live  in.  Some  of  the  wild  Alpine 
flower  gardens  are  found  nearly  13,000  feet  above  the  sea. 
Fully  one  hundred  varieties  of  blossoms  brighten  the  ledges, 
fringe  the  snow  fields,  and  color  the  moorlands  above  the 
limits  of  tree  growth. 

The  village  of  Estes  Park,  in  a  valley  at  the  eastern  gate 
way  of  this  mountain  playground,  has  many  hotels  seven 
thousand  or  more  feet  above  the  sea  level.  From  them  access 
to  the  noblest  heights  and  most  picturesque  recesses  of  the 
park  is  easy.  The  air  is  sufficiently  rare  by  reason  of  height 
to  make  running  put  a  person  quickly  out  of  breath ;  and  if 
you  attempt  to  climb  the  higher  mountains  you  have  to 
move  deliberately  and  stop  often  to  rest.  The  most  com 
fortable  way  to  travel  the  mountain  trails  is  on  horseback. 
The  guide  advises  the  riders  to  hold  the  reins  loosely  and 
let  the  horse  pick  a  way  to  suit  itself.  He  rides  ahead,  and 
the  horses  ridden  by  the  rest  of  the  party  follow,  if  let  alone. 
You  can  bivouac  by  rock  and  stream  in  the  primeval  forest 
if  you  choose.  For  splendid  sunny  days  and  cool  restful 


PIKES  PEAK  FROM  THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  GODS 


Colorado  415 

nights  the  park  cannot  be  surpassed.  A  number  of  rail 
roads  run  close  to  it,  and  it  is  only  thirty  hours  from  Chicago. 
As  many  as  50,000  persons  have  visited  it  in  a  single  year. 

Colorado  has  seventeen  National  Forests  which  cover  an 
area  almost  half  as  large  as  the  state  of  New  York.  In 
them  are  forty  of  the  fifty-four  peaks  in  the  United  States 
that  exceed  14,000  feet  in  height.  These  forests  also  have 
in  them  thousands  of  miles  of  the  best  fishing  streams  in 
the  country. 

Fifty  miles  south  of  Denver  is  Palmer,  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  resorts  in  the  state.  The  Ute  Indians,  in  a  legend 
similar  to  the  account  of  Noah's  Flood  in  the  Bible,  tell  how 
a  great  boat  containing  all  the  living  creatures  that  escaped 
drowning  was  left  by  the  subsiding  waters  on  a  spur  of  the 
mountains  just  back  of  Palmer  Lake.  When  the  animals 
came  forth  from  the  boat  they  went  down  on  the  plain,  after 
the  water  had  receded,  and  there  they  dwelt  domestically 
with  the  human  beings.  But  one  day,  while  the  warriors 
were  all  absent  exploring  the  country,  a  cross  old  woman 
who  had  been  left  in  charge  of  the  camp  was  hindered  in 
her  work  by  the  animals  getting  in  her  way,  and  she  gave 
them  a  furious  scolding.  They  were  so  frightened  that  they 
fled,  and  since  then  the  Indians  have  been  obliged  to  hunt 
them. 

The  Pikes  Peak  region  has  been  called  "America's  Scenic 
Playground,"  and  its  numerous  points  of  vantage  that  offer 
wonderful  panoramic  views  have  earned  it  the  name  of 
"Nature's  Picture  Gallery."  Pikes  Peak  itself  is  probably 
the  best  known  summit  of  the  Rockies.  It  rises  abruptly 
from  the  plains  to  an  altitude  of  14,147  feet,  and  is  the  most 
frequently  climbed  of  any  mountain  in  the  world  of  as  great 
height.  On  a  clear  day  the  westbound  travelers  on  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  get  their  earliest  glimpse  of  the  Peak 
from  a  station  called  First  View.  The  mountain  is  seen  one 


416 


What  to  See  in  America 


BALANCE  ROCK,  PIKE  FOREST 


hundred  and  forty  miles 
away  directly  west.  Its 
authentic  history  dates 
from  November  13, 1806, 
when  Lieut.  Pike,  leading 
a  small  exploring  party 
of  United  States  soldiers, 
sighted  the  white  crest 
from  the  far  east.  Ten 
days  more  were  required 
to  reach  the  base,  and 
after  vigorous  attempts 
to  scale  the  mountain, 
Pike  abandoned  the  proj 
ect  with  the  declaration 


that  "No  human  being  could  ascend  to  its  pinnacle."  The 
Peak  is  an  outlying  sentinel  of  the  Rockies.  It  is  not 
heavily  snow-capped,  but,  on  the  contrary,  though  the 
snow  gathers  in  permanent  drifts  in  the  ravines,  the  white 
mantle  as  a  whole  is  usually  rather  scanty  and  tattered. 
The  upper  part  of  the  mountain  is  a  waste  of  broken  blocks 
of  stone.  A  cog-wheel  railroad  climbs  to  the  summit,  which 
is  nine  miles  from  the  village  of  Manitou  at  the  base,  or  8000 
feet  in  perpendicular  rise.  There  is  also  a  recently  completed 
eighteen-mile  automobile  road  that  ascends  to  the  top  by 
easy  grades,  and  which  is  as  smooth  as  a  pavement.  This 
is  the  world's  loftiest  automobile  highway.  Many  summer 
visitors  go  up  on  foot.  They  ordinarily  start  in  the  evening, 
because  during  the  day  the  heat  in  the  narrow  chasm  which 
the  route  at  first  follows,  and  the  glare  of  the  sun  on  the  rocks, 
make  walking  almost  out  of  the  question.  Each  climber 
carries  a  blanket  and  supply  of  coats  and  sweaters,  for  at  the 
summit  the  thermometer  goes  down  nearly  to  zero  every 
night.  They  ramble  along  happy  and  talkative  till  they 


Colorado 


417 


get  to  timber  line  and  pass  Windy  Point,  where  a  breeze  is 
always  blowing.  That  breeze  chills  them  right  through, 
no  matter  how  much  clothing  they  put  on.  Many  persons, 
when  they  get  there,  find  a  spot  where  they  can  escape  from 
the  gale,  then  make  a  fire,  loaf  a  while,  and  go  back  down. 
By  the  time  the  others  who  keep  on  get  to  the  top  they  are 
ready  to  swear  that  the  mountain  is  ten  miles  high.  At 
the  summit  they  find  shelter  in  a  low  stone  house.  In  the 
morning  they  are  rewarded  by  a  wonderful  sunrise,  if  there 
are  clouds  to  catch  the  color. 

Centuries  before  Columbus  discovered  America  the  Indians 
made  pilgrimages  to  the  "bubbling  waters"  at  the  foot  of 
Pikes  Peak,  and  made  votive  offerings  to  the  "Great  Spirit" 
in  reverence  to  whom  they  named  the  place  Manitou.  The 
village,  with  its  sparkling  health-giving  mineral  springs,  is 
in  a  graceful  vale  en 
compassed  by  cathedral 
hills.  Colorado  City,  the 
oldest  settlement  in  the 
region,  was  founded  in 
1859,  and  was  Colorado's 
first  territorial  capital. 
The  most  important  of 
the  group  of  towns  in 
the  vicinity  is  Colorado 
Springs,  noteworthy  for 
its  fine  buildings,  broad 
tree-lined  streets,  and 
pleasant  parks.  All  these 
towns  have  an  abun 
dance  of  pure  mountain 
water,  and  there  are  no 
insect  pests.  The  sum 
mers  are  characterized  GUNNISON  RIVER  CANYON 

2E 


418  What  to  See  in  America 

by  blue  skies,  snow-tempered  breezes,  comfortable  days, 
and  restful  nights.  The  winters  are  comparatively  free 
from  heavy  snow  and  extreme  cold.  Among  the  near-by 
attractions  are  the  picturesque  Cheyenne  Canyon,  the  Cave 
of  the  Winds  with  its  beautiful  crystallized  formations,  and 
the  Garden  of  the  Gods,  which  covers  about  a  square  mile 

,  of  rough  hills.  The 
growths  for  which  the 
Gods  are  responsible  and 
which  lend  the  Garden 
distinction,  consist  of 
a  great  variety  of  gro 
tesquely  eroded  pillars 
and  ridges  of  rock,  mostly 

MOUNTAIN  or  THE  HOLY  CROSS  p         j  i   ,  r 

or    red    sandstone,    but 

with  an  occasional  gray  upthrust  of  gypsum.  Several  of 
the  pinnacled  and  grottoed  ridges  are  of  very  impressive 
size,  the  highest  over  three  hundred  feet ;  and  in  the  lofty 
crannies  numerous  doves  and  swift-winged  swallows  have 
their  nests.  Down  below,  the  prairie  larks  sing,  and  the 
robins  hop  about  the  ground,  and  you  see  an  occasional 
magpie.  Best  of  all,  you  have  in  plain  sight  the  hoary 
Pikes  Peak  and  its  brotherhood  of  giant  mountains. 

High  among  the  rugged  ridges  southwest  of  the  peak  is 
the  world-famous  mining  camp  of  Cripple  Creek.  The 
journey  thither  is  forty-six  miles  by  a  railroad  that  follows 
up  canyons,  clings  along  slopes,  and  progresses  by  long  curves. 
Much  of  the  time  you  are  in  a  thin  woodland  of  pines  or 
aspens.  The  fires  have  run  over  a  large  portion  of  the 
heights,  yet  the  timber  on  the  burnt  ground  is  not  wholly 
ruined.  In  this  dry  climate  decay  is  slow.  A  tree  killed 
by  the  fire  and  left  standing  continues  sound  for  tens  of  years. 
No  doubt  trees  killed  thus  half  a  century  ago  are  now  being 
hauled  from  the  forest  to  be  used  as  lumber.  Cripple 


Colorado 


419 


Creek  is  one  of  several  towns  within  a  radius  of  half  a  dozen 

miles.     Serpentine  paths  and  roadways  wind  up  and  down 

the  hills,  lines  of  railway  cut  many  a  furrow  one  above  the 

other  in  the  steep  slopes,  and  towering  dumps  of  broken 

rock  from  the  mines  often  loom  close  at  hand.     The  first 

Cripple  Creek  dwelling  was  a  log  house  built  by  a  family 

of  herders  in  1872.     They  had  1500  cattle,  which  ranged 

over  a  territory  about  eight  miles  long  by  four  broad.     One 

of  the  young  men  of  the  family  fell  off  the  house  and  was 

badly  hurt,  a  cowboy  while  riding  a  bucking  horse  broke 

his    leg,    and    the    head 

of  the   household,  while 

drawing  a  pistol  to  shoot 

a  buffalo  calf,  discharged 

the  weapon  into  his  hand. 

These  accidents  led  the 

cowboys  to  call  the  little 

stream     in     the     hollow 

Cripple  Creek.  Presently 

a  Denver  clerk,  who  had 

scraped   together    a   few 

dollars,  bought  a  pack  of 

provisions  and  a  donkey, 

and  came  into  the  region 

prospecting.     His    third 

night's    camp    fire    was 

built  against  the  face  of 

a     big     rock.     He     was 

prodigal  with  fuel,  and  the  heat  of  the  roaring  fire  cracked 

the  rock  and  revealed  gold.     The  Denver  clerk  discovered 

an  outcropping  vein  that  led  into  the  wonderful  treasure 

vaults  of  Cripple  Creek.     That   was  in   1890.     The  gold 

occurs  in  streaks  running  from  below  upward,  and  the  area 

of  pay  rock  seems  to  be  limited  to  a  patch   about  three 


GLENWOOD  CANYON,  GRAND  RIVER 


420 


What  to  See  in  America 


miles  across,  but  the 
country  is  full  of  pros 
pect  holes  for  ten  miles 
around.  Actual  mining 
was  not  carried  on  very 
vigorously  for  several 
years.  Most  claim  own 
ers  were  content  to  in 
corporate  companies  for 
a  million  or  two  and 
make  money  selling 
stock.  Often  the  claims 
were  wholly  worthless. 
Prospectors  still  haunt 
the  wilds  of  the  West 
ern  mountains,  and  un 
expected  discoveries 
continue  to  be  made, 
but  the  world  seldom 
hears  of  them  unless  they  lead  to  great  bonanzas. 

Colorado  industries  are  primarily  related  to  mining,  but 
latterly  irrigation  farming  has  made  remarkable  headway. 
If  you  would  see  such  agriculture  at  its  best,  journey  to 
Greeley  in  the  valley  of  the  North  Platte.  The  place  was 
founded  by  Horace  Greeley  in  1872  as  a  practical  exemplifi 
cation  of  his  own  advice,  "Go  West,  young  man,  and  grow 
up  with  the  country."  The  region  then  was  a  cactus  plain, 
uninhabited  save  for  two  or  three  isolated  ranches,  and  the 
sleep  of  the  newcomers  was  disturbed  by  the  howling  of 
wolves.  Now  it  produces  immense  crops  of  orchard,  field, 
and  garden  staples,  and  the  watered  land  is  valued  at  from 
two  hundred  to  one  thousand  dollars  an  acre. 

The  most  picturesque  passage  through  the  mountains 
on  any  of  our  great  transcontinental  routes  is  that  of  the 


HELEN  HUNT  FALLS,  NORTH  CHEYENNE 
CANYON 


Colorado 


421 


Denver  and  Rio  Grande  by  way  of  the  magnificent  Royal 
Gorge  west  of  Pueblo.  The  towering  cliffs  of  the  gorge 
form  one  of  the  most  impressive  of  canyons,  a  mile  and  a 
half  long  and  2600  feet  deep.  The  first  railroad  train 
passed  through  it  in  1879.  This  is  the  gateway  to  western 
Colorado,  a  broken  region  of  tremendous  mountain  ranges 
intermitting  with  many  a  sheltered  pastoral  valley.  These 
valleys  are  called  parks.  One  of  them  is  about  as  large  as 
New  Jersey,  and  the  land  is  both  level  and  fertile.  By 
turning  a  little  aside  from  the  main  route  you  can  visit 
Leadville  in  its  lofty  aerie,  over  10,000  feet  above  the  sea. 
It  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the  "Town  above  the  Clouds." 
The  boom  began  here  in  1878  when  ore  remarkably  rich 
in  lead  and  silver  was  discovered.  Then  people  flocked 
thither  in  wagons  and  on  horseback  and  in  stages  until  three 
years  later  the  place  had  37,000  inhabitants,  which  is  five 
times  its  present 
size.  Thirty  miles 
to  the  northwest  is 
the  Mountain  of  the 
Holy  Cross ;  but  the 
emblem  which  gives 
the  peak  its  name 
does  not  appear  till 
nearly  midsummer. 
Then  the  snow  has 
melted  from  the  high 
precipices  and  is 
only  retained  in  two 
deep  ravines  that 
form  a  cross.  This 
cross  continues  in 
view  until  the  late 

fall,  when  the  snows  "THE  GHOSTS,"  Rio  GRANDE  FOREST 


422 


What  to  See  in  America 


again  take  possession  of  the  entire  crest.  To  go  to  the 
mountain,  stop  at  Red  Cliff,  a  delightful  little  village  with  a 
Swiss-like  environment.  A  somewhat  arduous  trip  of  a 
dozen  miles  back  into  the  woods  brings  you  into  the  vicinity 
of  the  strangely  marked  height.  Farther  west  is  the  well- 
known  health  resort  of  Glenwood  Springs  in  a  beautiful 
valley  surrounded  by  forest-clad  hills.  Another  particularly 

interesting  place 
is  Grand  Junc 
tion,  which  has 
in  its  vicinity 
some  of  the  most 
productive  fruit 
country  in  the 
entire  Rocky 
Mountain  re 
gion. 

In  the  south 
western  corner 
of  the  state  is 
the  Mesa  Verde  National  Park.  It  is  in  a  dry,  warm,  level 
region  with  thin  pine  forests.  The  striking  features  of  the 
district  are  occasional  picturesque  canyons,  and  now  and 
then  a  flat-topped  elevation,  one  or  two  thousand  feet  high. 
These  elevations  are  called  mesas,  which  is  Spanish  for  tables. 
Most  of  them  are  arid  and  bare,  but  the  mesa  which  is  the 
national  park  is  called  the  Mesa  Verde  because  it  has  green 
woodland  on  it.  All  the  region  was  originally  on  the  level 
of  the  table  tops  of  the  heights,  but  heavy  rains  and  melt 
ing  snows  have  in  the  passing  centuries  worn  a  great  deal  of 
the  country  down  to  what  it  now  is.  The  summits  of  the 
mesas  are  of  rock  harder  than  any  material  that  lies  below, 
and  this  rock  serves  as  a  protecting  cap  which  prevents  the 
storms  from  carrying  off  the  soil  underneath. 


IN  MESA  VERDE  NATIONAL  PARK 


Colorado  423 

One  December  day,  in  1888,  two  brothers  searching  for 
lost  cattle  on  the  Mesa  Verde  pushed  through  the  dense 
growths  at  the  edge  of  a  deep  canyon,  and  were  amazed  to 
see,  on  a  ledge  under  the  overhanging  edge  of  the  opposite 
brink,  the  walls  and  towers  of  what  seemed  to  them  the  ruins 
of  a  palace.  Then  they  began  to  explore  the  vicinity,  and 
near  by,  similarly  placed  in  another  canyon,  the}'  found  an 
equally  majestic  group  of  ruins  out  of  which  grew  a  large 
spruce  tree.  They  called  the  first-found  structure  Cliff 
Palace,  and  the  latter  Spruce  Tree  House.  These  are  the 
most  elaborate  and  best  preserved  prehistoric  ruins  in 
America.  In  the  years  that  followed,  a  careful  search 
resulted  in  numerous  other  finds  of  importance,  and  as 
recently  as  1915  a  remarkable  Temple  to  the  Sun  was  un 
earthed  on  the  top  of  the  mesa.  Spruce  Tree  House  contained 
about  one  hundred  rooms  and  was  three  stories  high.  Prob 
ably  a  colony  of  nearly  four  hundred  persons  made  it  their 
home.  Cliff  Palace  had  two  hundred  rooms.  The  Mesa 
Verde,  fifteen  miles  long  and  eight  wide,  is  one  of  the  largest 
of  our  mesas.  At  its  base  are  masses  of  broken  rock  rising 
three  hundred  to  five  hundred  feet  from  the  bare  plains. 
Above  the  slopes  of  shattered  rock  are  sandstone  bluffs 
under  whose  overhanging  tops  nestle  the  cliff  dwellings. 
Life  must  have  been  difficult  in  this  dry  country  when  the 
Mesa  Verde  communities  flourished.  Game  was  scarce  and 
hunting  arduous.  The  Mancos  River  yielded  a  few  fish. 
Berries  and  nuts  were  gathered,  and  corn,  beans,  squash,  and 
cotton  were  raised.  The  corn  was  ground  on  flat  stones, 
and  made  into  bread  that  was  baked  on  stone  griddles. 
Water  was  only  found  in  sequestered  places  near  the  head 
of  the  canyons.  The  people  possessed  no  written  language, 
and  could  only  record  their  thoughts  by  a  few  symbols 
painted  on  their  earthenware  jars  or  scratched  on  rocks. 
But  their  sense  of  beauty  was  keen,  as  is  evidenced  by  their 


424 


What  to  See  in  America 


handiwork  in  basketry,  cotton  fabrics,  and  their  ceramics, 
which  they  decorated  with  beautiful  designs  in  rare  colors. 
They  were  expert  builders,  they  cleared  and  irrigated  land, 
and  they  became  more  civilized  than  any  other  Indians  in  the 
United  States.  At  length  they  disappeared.  Possibly  they 
were  attacked  by  Indians  from  the  plains,  and  either  de 
stroyed  or  driven  away,  but  that  is  only  conjecture.  A 
Spanish  exploring  party  discovered  cliff  dwellings  here  in 
1541,  but  even  then  the  buildings  had  been  abandoned  for  a 
long  time.  Our  Indians  of  the  present  shun  the  ruins  of 
the  Mesa  Verde,  which  they  believe  are  inhabited  by  spirits 
whom  they  call  the  Little  People.  The  park  is  reached  by 
wagon,  horseback,  or  automobile  from  Mancos,  about 
twenty  miles  away. 

Kit  Carson,   greatest  of  all   the  frontiersmen,   trappers, 


BALCONY  HOUSE,  MESA  VERDE 


Colorado  425 

scouts,  guides,  and  Indian  fighters  of  the  far  West  came  to 
Colorado,  after  taking  an  active  part  in  the  Civil  War,  and 
settled  on  a  ranch  near  the  mouth  of  Picketwire  Creek.  He 
died  in  1868  at  Fort  Lyon,  where  he  had  gone  to  visit  a  son. 
Carson  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1809,  but  his  father's  family 
moved  to  Missouri  while  he  was  an  infant.  When  he  was 
seventeen  years  old  he  joined  a  party  of  Santa  Fe  traders 
and  began  his  life  of  adventure  on  the  great  plains  and  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  For  sixteen  years  his  rifle  supplied  every 
particle  of  food  on  which  lie  lived.  He  married  a  squaw, 
and  after  her  death  took  for  his  second  wife  a  Spanish  lady 
in  New  Mexico.  He  was  a  quick  wiry  man,  rather  under  the 
average  height,  cool  in  times  of  danger,  and  with  nerves  of 
steel.  He  was  wholly  uneducated,  and  could  with  difficulty 
write  his  name.  His  expertness  as  a  rifleman  was  amazing. 
He  could  toss  a  silver  dollar  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  the  air 
and  shoot  it  before  it  reached  the  ground.  All  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  region  became  well  acquainted  with  him.  He 
often  visited  their  camps,  sat  in  their  lodges,  smoked  with 
them,  and  played  with  their  children.  He  was  never  known 
to  break  his  word,  and  they  both  respected  and  feared  him. 


COWS    ON   JORNADO    RANGE 

XLV 
New  Mexico 

New  Mexico  and  Arizona  became  states  in  1912.  They  were 
the  last  of  the  forty-eight  states  to  be  admitted  to  the 
Union.  One  of  the  charms  of  New  Mexico  is  its  weather, 
and  the  "Sunshine  State"  fairly  describes  it.  The  typical 
day  is  absolutely  cloudless.  The  sun  makes  its  journey 
across  the  vast  blue  dome  of  the  sky  without  the  least  film 
of  mist  to  obscure  its  brightness,  and  there  are  three  hundred 
such  days  every  year.  To  the  casual  observer  much  of 
New  Mexico  seems  a  half  naked  and  stony  wilderness  where 
only  the  scantiest  population  can  ever  find  subsistence. 
But  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  good  land  that  only  needs 
irrigation  to  make  it  productive  and  beautiful ;  and  by 
utilizing  the  streams  fully  and  getting  artesian  water  from 
below  the  surface  the  aspect  of  the  region  is  being  materially 
changed.  The  climate  is  cold  in  the  elevated  regions,  hot 
on  the  plains,  but  everywhere  dry  and  healthful.  In  the 
southern  part  the  temperature  seldom  goes  below  the 
freezing  point.  Heavy  rains  fall  in  July  and  August,  but  the 
rest  of  the  year  is  dry. 

The  oldest  place  in  the  state  is  Santa  Fe.  Relics  found 
along  the  Sante  Fe  valley  show  that  the  region  enjoyed  its 
greatest  prosperity  when  it  was  peopled  by  the  prehistoric 

426 


New  Mexico 


427 


INSCRIPTION  ROCK,  EL  MORO  FOREST 


Aztecs.  According  to  an 
Indian  legend  Monte- 
zuma  was  born  in  this 
vicinity,  whence  he  jour 
neyed  southward  on  the 
back  of  an  eagle.  The 
people  followed,  and  at 
each  place  where  the 
eagle  stopped  for  the 
night  they  founded  a 
city.  Finally  the  city  of 
Mexico  was  built  where 
the  eagle's  long  flight 
ended.  A  great-grand 
daughter  of  the  Aztec 
chief,  Montezuma,  married  a  wealthy  Spaniard,  who  became 
the  founder  of  Santa  Fe,  which,  next  to  St.  Augustine,  is  the 
oldest  town  in  the  United  States.  In  1598  he  started 
from  Mexico  with  400  colonists,  83  wagons,  and  7000 
cattle.  He  reached  the 
Indian  pueblo  of  San 
Juan  about  thirty  miles 
north  of  Santa  Fe,  and 
there  he  built  a  town  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Rio 
Grande.  Not  until  eight 
years  later  did  he  remove 
to  Santa  Fe,  where  he 
established  his  settle 
ment  on  the  site  of  two 
small  Indian  pueblos. 

Such  was  the  zeal  of 
the  Franciscan  mission 
aries  that  by  1617  eleven  NAVAJO  CHURCH  NEAR  FORT  WINGATE 


428  What  to  See  in  America 

churches  had 
been  founded  in 
New  Mexico,  and 
14,000  natives 
had  been  bap 
tized,  yet  there 
were  only  forty- 
eight  soldiers 

OLD  PALACE  AT  SANTA  FE  and    Colonists    in 

the  entire  prov 
ince.  The  government  expenses  were  borne  by  the  Indians, 
who  paid  an  annual  tribute  of  cotton  and  corn  in  return  for 
their  teaching  and  "  civilization."  Many  of  the  natives  were 
hanged  from  time  to  time  for  alleged  religious  offenses, 
and  many  were  whipped  and  imprisoned  until  a  medicine 
man  of  San  Juan  pueblo  persuaded  all  the  northerly  Pueblo 
tribes  to  unite  to  exterminate  the  Spaniards.  The  day  of 
reckoning  came  on  August  10,  1680,  when  more  than  400  of 
2500  settlers,  soldiers,  and  friars  of  the  province  were 
massacred.  Santa  Fe  was  not  disturbed  until  four  days 
later,  when  the  enemy  entered  the  town.  A  parley  wras  held 
with  a  deputation  of  Indians  who  bore  a  white  cross  of  peace 
and  a  red  cross  of  war.  They  gave  the  Spaniards  their 
choice  of  these,  but  if  the  former  was  chosen  the  country 
must  be  evacuated  immediately.  The  whites  failed  to 
soften  these  terms,  and  fighting  ensued  which  resulted  in  the 
entire  population  of  1000  persons  taking  refuge  in  the  great 
adobe  palace.  Only  one  hundred  of  them  were  armed. 
The  water  supply  of  the  town  was  cut  off,  and  by  the  twen 
tieth  of  the  month  the  besieged  were  in  such  desperate 
straits  that  the  Spaniards  made  a  sortie.  By  this  time 
there  were  3000  savages  beleaguering  the  palace;  yet  the 
brave  one  hundred  drove  the  foe  in  confusion  to  the  heights 
that  bordered  the  valley,  killed  three  hundred,  and  captured 


New  Mexico 


429 


fifty  whom  they  afterward  hanged  on  the  plaza.  But  they 
did  not  dare  to  remain,  and  the  next  day  they  gathered  up 
their  belongings  and  started  on  a  six-weeks  march  under  the 
hot  summer  sun  down  the  river  to  the  Mission  of  Guadalupe, 
near  the  present  El  Paso,  Texas. 

Now  the  Pueblos  were  in  possession  of  Santa  Fe  and  of  the 
dearly  bought  independence  which  they  had  so  long  been 
craving.  They  determined  that  the  language  of  the  white 
men  was  to  be  forgotten  and  his  religion  discarded.  Until 
1692  they  had  things  their  own  way.  Then  the  Spanish 
governor  led  a  force  up  the  Rio  Grande  from  El  Paso  and 
induced  the  Indians  in  the  Santa  Fe  vicinity  to  surrender 
and  to  renew  allegiance  to  the  Spaniard's  religion.  In 
December  of  the  next  year  he  returned  with  a  colony  of 
seventy  families,  but  the  Indians  refused  to  vacate  the  town 
buildings  until  they  were  attacked  «nivl  overpowered.  Four 
hundred  of  the  women 
and  children  were  dis 
tributed  among  the  col 
onists. 

When  Lieut.  Pike 
visited  Santa  Fe  in 
1807  the  palace  was 
there  as  it  is  now,  and 
was  the  only  building 
in  New  Mexico  that 
could  boast  the  luxury 
of  glass  windows.  In 
1847  the  New  Mexi 
cans  had  their  first  op 
portunity  of  becoming 
acquainted  with  a  saw 
mill.  The  mill  was 
placed  in  operation  O11  POOYA  CLIFF  DWELLINGS 


430  What  to  See  in  America 

Santa  Fe  Creek.  The  first  railroad  to  reach  the  city  arrived 
in  1880,  and  thenceforth  the  ramble  of  the  long  caravan 
rolling  its  weary  way  into  the  crooked  streets  of  the  "City 
of  the  Holy  Faith"  was  forever  stilled. 

The  Old  Palace  has  been  occupied  as  executive  building 
by  a  succession  of  almost  one  hundred  governors  —  Spanish, 
Pueblo,  Mexican,  and  American  —  some  of  whom  held 
sway  over  a  territory  larger  than  the  original  thirteen  states. 
It  was  built  in  1606,  and  is  without  doubt  the  oldest  govern 
mental  building  in  our  country.  The  structure  is  essentially 
unchanged,  and  probably  no  walls  within  our  domain  have 
witnessed  inside  and  out  such  cruelty  and  horror,  treachery 
and  suffering,  valor  and  chivalry,  as  the  big  low  adobe 
palace  which  fronts  the  historic  plaza.  In  one  of  its  rooms 
Lew  Wallace,  when  governor  of  New  Mexico,  wrote  a  part 
of  his  famous  novel,  "Ben  Hur."  It  contains  a  museum  of 
old  Spanish  paintings  and  historical  relics. 

Only  one  year  less  ancient  is  San  Miguel  Church,  believed 
to  be  the  nation's  oldest  religious  edifice,  and  known  as  the 
"Cradle  of  Christianity  in  America."  It  is  still  used  for 
public  worship.  The  original  adobe  walls  were  made 
extremely  thick,  which  accounts  for  their  survival  in  spite 
of  what  the  building  has  had  to  endure  from  mankind  and 
weather.  In  the  Pueblo  Revolution  the  Indians  tore  down 
the  ornaments  of  the  church  and  burned  them,  and  they 

used  the  build 
ing  for  their  an 
cient  worship  of 
snakes  and  stone 
images.  The  res 
toration  of  the 
damaged  struc 
ture  was  com- 

SANCTUARIO,  THE  LOURDES  OF  NEW  MEXICO          pleted    in     1710. 


New  Mexico 


431 


m  ttMM* 
'.    ® 


m'- 


THE  CHURCH  AT  LAGUNA 


Inside  of  the  ven 
erable  church  is  a 
bell  east  in  Spain 
more  than  a  century 
before  the  discovery 
of  America.  Near 
by,  on  the  crooked est 
street  in  the  United 
States,  is  a  house 
which  tradition  says 
was  built  by  Pueblo 
Indians  long  before 

the  Spanish  occupation.     It  has  been  continuously  occupied 
since,  though  not  without  some  change  and  renovation. 

Santa  Fe  is  on  a  plateau  that  has  an  altitude  of  about 
7000  feet,  and  the  summer  weather  is  invigoratingly  com 
fortable  rather  than  hot,  while  the  winter  weather  is  seldom 
severe.  The  plateau  is  rimmed  by  peaks,  over  thirty  of 
which  are  from  10,000  to  13,000  feet  high.  Santa  Fe  itself 
is  on  the  whole  sleepy  and  ancient-looking,  with  streets  that 
are  often  so  narrow  as  to  be  like  paths  among  the  jutting 
irregular  fronts  of  adobe  buildings.  But  there  are  modern 
structures  side  by  side  with  the  primitive  ones,  and  the  re 
cent  and  the  antiquated  offer  curious  contrasts.  The  plaza 
has  evolved  from  a  barren  common  to  a  bower  of  beauty. 
Sometimes  you  may  see  on  the  streets  a  great  heavy  oxen- 
drawn  cart  with  wheels  that  are  thick  disks  of  wood  creaking 
on  a  wooden  axle.  Another  odd  sight  is  an  occasional  drove 
of  donkeys,  each  bearing  more  than  its  bulk  of  cordwood 
or  hay,  and  all  driven  by  an  Indian  or  a  Mexican.  Round 
about  are  coal,  gold,  copper,  mica,  zinc,  and  lead  mines.  The 
gently  undulating  hills  that  roll  away  in  every  direction  form 
excellent  grazing  lands,  and  are  occupied  by  flocks  of  sheep 
and  herds  of  cattle  and  goats. 


432 


What  to  See  in  America 


ACOMA  PUEBLO 


Santa  Fe  is  the  center 
of  what  has  been  called 
the  most  wonderful  fifty- 
mile  square  in  America. 
In  a  single  day's  journey 
you  can  reach  Indian 
pueblos  and  Mexican  vil 
lages,  cliff  dwellings  and 
other  prehistoric  ruins, 
snow-clad  peaks,  and  trout 
streams.  You  can  motor 
over  smooth  highways,  or 
hunt  the  bear  and  the 
mountain  lion,  or  take 
long  camping  trips  on 
horseback  with  pack  out 
fit  and  rough  it  to  any  ex 
tent  desired. 

Remnants  of  the  ancient  civilization  of  the  Cliff  Dwellers 
are  scattered  around  Santa  Fe  with  astonishing  prodigality. 
Six  miles  to  the  south,  on  the  Arroyo  Hondo,  are  the  ruins 
of  one  communal  village.  Five  miles  to  the  southwest,  at 
the  curious  sprawling  Mexican  settlement  of  Agua  Fria,  is  a 
similar  prehistoric  village  beneath  a  mound  that  is  strewn 
with  thousands  of  pieces  of  ornamental  crockery.  Six  miles 
to  the  north  are  similar  ruins.  But  all  these  are  negligible 
compared  with  the  20,000  communal  and  cliff  dwellings  in 
Pajarito  Park,  across  the  Rio  Grande,  twenty-five  miles 
west  of  Santa  Fe,  Here  is  the  most  interesting  archaeological 
region  in  the  United  States.  In  untold  ages  past,  when  the 
pioneer  Cliff  Dwellers  sought  out  this  secluded  area,  they 
made  their  homes  in  the  many  natural  cavities  of  the  rocks. 
But  as  the  population  increased,  no  more  natural  shelters 
were  to  be  had,  and  the  people  were  obliged  to  fashion  for 


New  Mexico  433 

themselves  new  caves,  which  they  dug  with  their  rude  stone 
tools  in  the  soft  volcanic  rock  of  the  cliffs.  Every  cliff  wall 
in  the  canyons  is  honeycombed  with  these  artificial  caves. 
If  you  enter  one  of  the  tiny  doorways  you  find  yourself  in  a 
room  from  six  to  ten  feet  square,  with  plastered  walls  and 
floor  as  hard  as  cement.  The  caves  contain  fireplaces, 
granaries,  and  other  reminders  of  domestic  life,  and  the 
blackened  ceilings  speak  of  long  occupation.  Many  of  the 
walls  are  crudely  decorated  with  pictures  of  plumed  serpents 
and  all  manner  of  mythical  beasts  and  personages.  The 
cliffs  themselves  are  adorned  with  a  multitude  of  primitive 
symbols  which  the  aboriginal  sculptors  cut  in  the  rock  ages 
before  America  was  discovered.  Carloads  of  pottery  and 
utensils  have  been  taken  away  to  enrich  museums  and  private 
collections,  but  the  amount  is  negligible  compared  with 
what  remains.  One  ruin  is  that  of  a  communal  house  with  a 
thousand  rooms,  and  which  is  almost  inaccessible  except 
for  a  single  stairway.  The  cliff-dwellings  have  the  appear 
ance  of  fortified  retreats,  and  it  is  generally  agreed  that  the 
region  was  at  one  time  invaded  by  warlike  hordes  whom  the 
inhabitants  were  unable  to  resist  in  the  open  country.  The 
assailed  were  therefore  led  to  devise  these  dwellings  hung 
between  earth  and  sky,  but  what  were  their  struggles  and 
what  their  fate  we  do  not  know. 

Thirty  miles  north  of  Santa  Fe  is  the  Espanola  Valley,  the 
garden  spot  of  New  Mexico,  with  orchards  and  rural  settle 
ments  and  Indian  villages.  About  ten  miles  east  of  the  town 
of  Espanola  is  Chimayo,  one  of  the  most  secluded  villages 
in  the  state.  It  is  among  the  foothills  of  the  western  side 
of  the  main  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Here,  under 
the  shadow  of  the  heights,  is  a  unique  church  known  as 
the  "  Sanctuario."  It  is  a  shrine  for  the  cure  of  disease, 
and  every  day  throughout  the  year,  men,  women,  and  chil 
dren  from  all  directions  may  be  seen  approaching  in  car- 

2F 


434  AVhat  to  See  in  America 

riages,  in  wagons,  on  horses,  on  burros,  or  on  foot,  seeking  a 
cure  for  their  bodily  ills.  As  many  as  one  hundred  pilgrims 
often  arrive  in  a  single  day.  The  earth  of  this  sacred  spot 
has  been  reputed  to  have  healing  virtues  from  a  very  re 
mote  past.  In  1816  the  church,  with  its  massive  walls  over 
three  feet  thick,  was  built  by  a  wealthy  local  citizen.  The 
usual  method  of  obtaining  benefit  is  to  take  a  small  amount 
of  the  sacred  earth,  and  make  a  kind  of  tea  of  it.  One 
spoonful  of  this  frequently  suffices  to  produce  the  desired 
result.  Many  persons  all  over  the  Southwest  attribute  their 
present  good  health  to  the  benignant  influence  derived  from 
a  visit  to  Chimayo. 

Somewhat  farther  east  is  North  Truchas  Peak,  13,306  feet 
high,  the  loftiest  mountain  in  the  state.  About  fifty  miles 
to  the  north  is  Taos,  once  celebrated  for  its  distilleries  of 
whisky,  a  raw  fiery  spirit  known  as  "Taos  lightning." 
This  liquor  was  the  most  profitable  article  of  barter  with  the 
Indians,  who  exchanged  their  buffalo  robes  and  other  valuable 
furs  for  it  at  a  tremendous  sacrifice.  Kit  ("arson  lived  at 
Taos  from  1854  to  I860,  and,  in  accord  with  his  desire,  he 
was  buried  in  the  Taos  Cemetery  after  his  death. 

Twenty  miles  east  of  Santa  Fe  are  the  ruins  of  Pecos,  the 
largest  place  in  what  is  now  the  United  States  when  visited 
by  the  Spaniards  in  1540.  It  wTas  a  walled  city  whose  in 
habitants  were  self-reliant  and  warlike.  Pueblo  civilization 
had  here  its  eastern  outpost,  and  the  place  was  exposed 
to  attack  by  the  Plains  tribes.  Not  far  from  Pecos  is  Las 
Vegas,  which  has  won  favor  as  a  pleasure  and  health  resort. 
Here  are  about  forty  hot  springs,  which  afford  opportunities 
for  both  mud  baths  and  water  baths,  as  well  as  for  drinking. 

The  state's  largest  city  is  Albuquerque,  with  a  brisk 
trade  in  wool  and  hides.  Xear  it  is  the  important 
pueblo  of  Isleta,  and  farther  west  is  the  pueblo  of  La- 
guna.  There  are  at  least  a  score  of  the  many-chambered 


New  Mexico 


435 


communal  pueblos  in  the  state, 
and  their  inhabitants  own  more 
than  a  million  acres  of  land. 
Laguna  is  particularly  interest 
ing  and  accessible.  But  the 
most  remarkable  of  all  is  Acoma, 
which  is  eighteen  miles  south  of 
Laguna.  The  name  means 
" People  of  the  White  Rock.'1 
Acoma  is  on  an  isolated  mesa 
with  precipitous  walls  of  gray 
sandstone  that  rise  to  a  height 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
above  the  plain.  It  is  the  oldest 
continuously  inhabited  settle 
ment  in  the  United  States.  The 
early  chronicles  say  it  was  the 
home  of  a  people  feared  by  the 
residents  of  the  whole  country  around  as  robbers.  Its  loca 
tion  rendered  it  well-nigh  impregnable,  for  the  only  means 
of  approaching  it  was  by  climbing  up  an  easily  guarded 
cleft  in  the  rock.  The  Acomas  welcomed  the  soldiers  of 
Coronado  in  1540  with  deference,  ascribing  to  them  celestial 
origin ;  but  later,  after  becoming  aware  of  their  distinctly 
human  character,  they  slew, a  dozen  of  them.  By  way  of 
reprisal  seventy  of  the  Spaniards  attacked  the  citadel,  and 
at  the  end  of  a  three  days'  hand-to-hand  struggle  had  slain 
1500  of  the  Indians  and  stood  victors  on  the  height.  The 
present  population  is  about  600. 

Only  three  miles  distant  is  the  Enchanted  Mesa,  a  vast 
castle-like  rock  rising  with  perpendicular  walls  from  the 
plain  to  a  height  of  four  hundred  and  thirty  feet.  Its  great 
size  and  ragged  crags  make  it  one  of  the  most  impressive 
wonders  of  the  continent.  According  to  legend  there  was 


HOODED  KNIGHT,  GILA 
FOREST 


436  What  to  See  in  America 

formerly  a  pueblo  on  this  mesa  to  which  people  climbed  by 
a  path  up  a  crevice  where  a  huge  portion  of  the  face  of  the 
precipice  had  partially  separated  from  the  main  mass.  One 
day,  while  all  the  inhabitants  except  three  sick  women  were  at 
work  in  the  fields  on  the  plain  below,  there  came  a  sudden 
storm,  and  the  deluge  of  rain,  or  the  lightning,  sent  the 
leaning  ledge  crashing  down  to  the  base  of  the  mesa.  The 
three  sick  women  perished  beyond  reach  of  aid  on  the  then 
inaccessible  cliff,  and  the  rest  of  the  community  sought  a  new 
place  for  their  village.  Several  exploring  parties  in  recent 
years  have  been  to  the  summit  of  the  great  rock.  The  first 
of  these,  led  by  an  Eastern  college  professor,  laid  siege  to  the 
mesa  with  a  mortar  and  several  miles  of  assorted  ropes, 
supplemented  by  pulleys,  a  boatswain's  chair,  and  a  pair  of 
horses.  On  top  is  an  area  of  twelve  acres  that  is  almost  bare 
rock.  The  explorers  find  there  bits  of  broken  pottery,  stone 
axes  and  arrowheads,  and  ornaments  made  of  wild  hogs' 
tusks,  but  no  indications  that  the  mesa  served  for  anything 
more  than  a  refuge  for  small  parties. 

Zuni,  with  a  population  of  1600,  is  the  largest  of  all  the 


THE  ENCHANTED  MESA 


New  Mexico  437 

southwest  Indian  pueblos.  It  is  on  an  open  plain  near 
Thunder  Mountain.  The  adobe  houses,  built  in  communal 
fashion,  rise  in  some  instances  five  stories  high.  The  people 
are  noted  as  pottery  makers,  yarn  spinners,  and  turquoise 
drillers.  Their  ceremonial  dances  are  world-renowned. 
Near  Zuni  is  the  precipitous-sided  mesa  of  Toyalane  to  which 
the  Indians  of  Zuni  and  of  six  other  pueblo  cities  inhabited 
by  the  tribe  fled  when  they  feared  invasion.  There  they 
sometimes  remained  for  many  years  while  their  abandoned 
pueblos  fell  to  ruins.  The  pueblo  of  Zuni  is  forty  miles 
south  of  Gallup,  which  is  also  the  starting  point  for  making  a 
trip  across  the  Painted  Desert,  seventy  miles,  to  Chico, 
where  is  the  largest  group  of  prehistoric  stone  houses  in  the 
southwest. 


NAVAJO  INDIANS  ON  THE  RIM 


THE  GRAND  CANYON 


XLVI 

Arizona 

Arizona  is  an  Indian  word  which  means  "Sand  Hills,"  but 
the  Arizonans  prefer  to  have  you  think  of  the  state  as  "  Sun 
set  Land."  Only  seven  per  cent  of  its  area  is  privately 
owned.  The  remainder  is  public  land,  Indian  reservations, 
and  National  Forests.  Arizona  leads  all  the  other  states  in 
the  production  of  copper.  The  state's  largest  city  and  its 
first  permanent  settlement  is  Tucson,  a  quaint  Spanish- 
looking  place  founded  about  1695.  A  few  miles  to  the  south 
of  Tucson  is  an  old  mission  church,  erected  at  the  same  time, 
in  which  services  are  said  never  to  have  ceased. 

The  climate  of  Arizona  varies  from  that  of  the  hot  region 
near  Yuma  to  that  of  the  cold  forested  mountains  and  high 
plateaus.  In  the  more  elevated  portions  the  rainfall  is 

438 


Arizona 


439 


scanty,  and  about  sixty  per  cent  of  the  days  are  cloudless. 
Yuma,  which  is  in  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  state  only 
seven  miles  from  the  Mexican  frontier,  was  established  by 
Spanish  missionaries  in  1700.  The  desert  in  this  part  of 
Arizona,  along  the  Colorado  River,  is  the  hottest  section 
in  the  United  States.  Indeed,  it  is  even  hotter  than  many 
parts  of  the  torrid  zone.  The  thermometer  registers  as  high 
as  one  hundred  and  twenty  degrees  in  the  shade.  The  great 
deserts  of  Arizona  and  the  adjacent  states  offer  little  to 
attract  settlers,  and  the  pioneers  of  a  few  years  ago  regarded 
them  with  fear  as  places  of  desolation  and  death,  yet  these 
now  serve  as  pastures  at  the  rate  of  one  or  two  square  miles 
for  each  cow.  Wild  life  is  more  abundant  on  the  desert  than 
you  might  fancy,  but  the  animals  are  small  and  not  often  in 
sight.  Most  of  them  are  nocturnal.  Large  colonies  of  rats 
live  in  the  sandy  areas;  and  various  lizards  and  the  bold 
little  horned  toad  are  numerous.  In  places  the  species  of 
rattlesnake  known  as  "sidewinder"  is  found.  The  name 
refers  to  the  creature's  s'delong  method  of  locomotion. 
Tortoises  roam  widely 
over  the  desert,  and  their 
empty  shells  are  a  com 
mon  sight.  Most  of  these 
tortoises  are  about  ten 
inches  long.  They  are 
generally  found  far  from 
water  holes,  and  it  is  a 
marvel  that  they  can 
obtain  water  enough  to 
keep  them  alive. 

By  means  of  vast  irri 
gation  projects  the  gov 
ernment  is  making  much 
of  the  once  arid  worth-  PINTO  CANYON 


440 


What  to  See  in  America 


GIANT  CACTUS,  NI 


less  lands  of  the  West 
fruitful,  and  the  limits  of 
the  Great  American  Des 
ert  that  used  to  be  such 
a  big  blank  patch  on  the 
maps  are  becoming  ever 
narrower.  In  the  first 
ten  years  after  1902,  when 
the  Reclamation  Act  was 
passed,  irrigation  water 
was  made  available  for 
more  than  a  million  acres. 
Of  all  the  irrigation  pro 
jects  that  on  the  Salt 
River  in  the  vicinity 
of  Phoenix,  the  capital 
of  Arizona,  is  the  most 

highly  developed.  Phoenix  is  a  well-built  modern  city,  and 
the  irrigated  valley  is  amazingly  fertile  and  productive. 
Practically  all  the  ^— • 
land  that  can  be 
watered  is  in  use, 
and  90,000  acres  are 
in  alfalfa.  Other  im 
portant  crops  are 
sugar  beets,  cereals, 
cotton,  melons,  and 
small  fruits.  Dairy 
ing  is  an  important 
industry.  The  aver 
age  farmer  has  forty 
acres.  Without  irri 
gation  the  land  could 
be  bought  for  twenty  WATER  BOTTLE  IN  THE  DESERT 


Arizona 


441 


dollars  or  less  an  acre.  With  irrigation  it  sells  for  one  hun 
dred  dollars.  The  vast  precipice  of  masonry  known  as  the 
Roosevelt  Dam,  which  has  been  thrown  across  the  narrows 
of  Salt  River  Canyon,  in  a  setting  of  wild  mountain  gran 
deur,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  engineering  works  of 
our  time.  The  maximum  height  of  this  barrier  is  two  hun 
dred  and  eighty  feet,  and  on  its  crest  is  a  broad  driveway 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length.  Over  the  spillways 
thunder  mighty  waterfalls  whose  clouds  of  rainbow  spray 
fill  all  the  lower  canyon.  On  either  side  rise  the  great  cliffs, 
and  if  you  look  up  to  the  higher  ledges  you  see  thousands 


SALT  RIVER  PROJECT  CANAL 

of  swallows  swarming  about  their  nests,  but  sometimes  scat 
tering  wildly  before  the  rush  of  great  vultures  that  swoop 
down  from  the  crags.  The  dam  was  completed  in  1911. 
Xot  until  four  years  later,  however,  did  the  reservoir  fill, 
thus  creating  one  of  the  largest  artificial  bodies  of  water  in 
the  world.  The  lake  is  thirty  miles  long,  four  miles  wide  at 
its  broadest,  and  is  completely  walled  in  by  mountains. 
The  water  that  the  reservoir  contains  when  full  could  prob- 


442 


What  to  See  in  America 


APACHE  INDIAN  CAMP 


ably  be  depended  on 
to  irrigate  all  the 
farms  in  the  valley 
for  five  years  even  if 
no  drop  of  rain  should 
fall. 

One  of  the  most 
interesting  excursions 
that  can  be  made  in 
Arizona  is  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty- 
mile  automobile  trip 
over  the  Apache 
Trail.  The  eastern 
terminus  is  the  cop 
per  town  of  Globe  where  you  leave  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad,  and  the  western  terminus  is  Phoenix.  Just  before 
reaching  Globe  the  train  passes  through  San  Carlos,  the 
present  home  of  the  Apaches,  where  can  be  seen  the  pictur 
esque  red  men  on  horseback  and  on  foot,  wrapped  in  bril 
liant-colored  blankets,  and  the  women  selling  handmade 
baskets.  The  several  hands  number  in  all  about  5000 

persons.  Their 
houses  are  of  a 
low  oval  form 
made  of  poles 
covered  with  in 
terlaced  grasses 
and  canvas.  Here 
are  the  White 
Mountains,  a 
land  of  clear 
streams,  pines, 
THE  ROOSEVELT  DAM  meadoWs,  and  a 


Arizona 


443 


SUPERSTITION  MOUNTAINS 

cool  summer  climate,  and  where  such  wild  game  is  found 
as  bear,  deer,  turkey,  and  mountain  lions.  The  persistent 
enmity  of  the  Apaches  greatly  retarded  the  development  of 
Arizona  up  to  1886.  The  Apache  chief,  Geronimo,  with 
only  twenty  warriors,  and  hampered  by  fourteen  squaws, 
once  held  at  bay  an  American  force  of  2000  soldiers,  and  a 
Mexican  army  of  several  thousand  more.  He  murdered, 
burned,  scalped,  and  pillaged,  and  completely  terrorized  that 
entire  section  of  Arizona  and  Mexico,  all  without  losing  a 
single  man.  But  in  1886  Gen.  Miles  and  his  troopers  fol 
lowed  Geronimo's  band  into  the  mountains,  giving  them  no 
rest  and  forcing  them  to  keep  moving  until  even  their  dogged 
endurance  could  endure  the  strain  no  longer,  and  they  sur 
rendered. 

The  Apache  Trail  has  been  converted  into  a  road  graded 
and  smoothed  to  as  near  perfection  as  a  mountain  road 
can  be.  The  Indian  moccasin  trail  is  followed  closely. 
Much  of  it  is  through  a  wonderful  realm  of  crags  and  turreted 


444 


What  to  See  in  America 


CASA  GRANDE  RUINS 


heights  dyed  in  tints  of  red,  purple,  green,  and  blue.  At  one 
place  are  cliff  dwellings.  The  Indians  speak  of  the  pre 
historic  inhabitants  of  these  dwellings  as  the  "Little  People," 
and  such  they  must  have  been,  for  the  ceilings  are  only  four 
feet  high,  and  the  doors  are  only  two  feet  high.  You  pass 
the  great  Roosevelt  Dam  and  Lake,  and  go  on  down  the 

turbulent  Salt  River. 
Among  the  features 
of  interest  here  are 
Fish  Creek  Canyon, 
the  beetling  Cape 
Horn,  the  Old  Wom 
an's  Shoe,  Nigger- 
head  Mountain,  and 
Superstition  Moun 
tains.  Near  the  sum 
mit  of  the  last  is  a 

horizontal  line  of  white  rock  which  the  Indians  say  marks 
the  height  reached  by  the  waters  of  an  ancient  flood  that 
covered  almost  the  entire  world.  One  of  the  strange 
drought-resisting  growths  along  the  way  is  the  weird  giant 
cactus.  It  sometimes  stands  singly,  and  sometimes  in 
groves  that  spread  over  plain  and  mountain  side.  Thirty 
feet  is  no  uncommon  height  for  it  to  attain,  and  some 
rise  more  than  fifty  feet.  From  the  spiny  fluted  trunks 
issue  branches  which  almost  equal  the  trunk  itself  in  diam 
eter.  This  monstrous  cactus  brings  forth  a  brilliant  red 
waxen  flower  of  singular  beauty  —  the  state  flower  of  Ari 
zona.  You  will  see  various  other  cacti,  and  the  Spanish 
bayonet  or  yucca,  the  mesquite,  and  the  cat's-claw  growing 
in  dense  profusion.  After  every  refreshing  shower  there 
spring  up  short-lived  flowering  plants  that  carpet  the  desert 
with  a  mass  of  color.  Indeed,  the  desert  is  like  a  wizard's 
garden  in  its  mingling  of  the  grotesque  and  beautiful/ 


Arizona 


445 


EAGLE  ROCK  MONUMENT 


About  twenty-five 
miles  southeast  of  Phoenix 
is  the  Casa  Grande  Ruin 
Reservation.  Here  is  the 
most  important  prehis 
toric  Indian  ruin  of  its 
type  in  the  Southwest. 
One  hundred  rooms  with 
plazas  and  surrounding 
walls  have  thus  far  been 
excavated. 

Up  near  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad,  not  far  from  the  New 
Mexico  line,  are  several  petrified  forests.  They  contain 
vast  deposits  of  petrified  wood  varying  in  size  from  tiny 
fragments  to  trees  more  than  six  feet  in  diameter  and  two 
hundred  feet  in  length,  and  they  cover  thousands  of  acres. 
One  of  these  forests  is  only  six  miles  from  the  railway  station 
of  Adamana.  It  is  noted  for  the  brilliant  colors  of  the  petri 
fied  wood  and  for  its  Natural  Log  Bridge.  This  bridge 
spans  a  chasm  sixty  feet  wide  with  its  jasper  and  agate  trunk. 
A  neighboring  petrified  forest  in  which  the  colors  comprise 
every  possible  tint  is  called  the  Rainbow  Forest.  Another  is 
known  as  the  Blue 
Forest  on  account  of 
the  blue  tint  of  its 
trees.  These  forests 
can  be  easily  reached 
every  day  in  the 
year  except  when 
heavy  rains  render 
the  streams  tempo 
rarily  impassable. 
The  trees  in  most  of 
them  lie  prone  on 


PETRIFIED  FOREST 


446 


What  to  See  in  America 


BOTTOMLESS  PITS  NEAR  FLAGSTAFF 


the  ground, 
broken  into  sec 
tions  in  what  was 
once  the  bed  of 
an  ancient  river. 
Many  of  them  re 
tain  their  bark. 
There  are  certain 
slopes  where  they 
lie  tumbled  to 
gether  as  if  whole 
quarries  of  marble 
and  onyx  had 

been  dynamited,  and  the  sections  of  a  tree  seldom  lie  in  line 
in  their  original  positions.  Commercial  exploitation  of  the 
petrified  wood  is  improbable  because  it  is  so  hard  as  to  al 
most  defy  polishing  by  machinery. 

Fifty  miles  west  of  Adamana  is  Winslow  at  the  south  end 
of  the  Painted  Desert.  This  desert  is  a  district  of  undulating 
plains  and  bright-colored  cliffs  which  extend  far  northward 
into  Utah.  About  sixty  miles  north  of  Winslow  are  the 
seven  "Sky  Cities"  of  the  Hopi  Indians  perched  on  three 
mesas  that  project  into  the  Painted  Desert.  Below  the 
villages  are  cornfields,  peach  orchards,  and  gardens.  Each 
village  has  its  own  spring  and  its  own  shrines.  The  Snake 
Dance  which  occurs  in  late  August  is  one  of  the  most  interest 
ing  of  the  Hopi  ceremonies.  The  women  of  the  tribe  make 
the  finest  pottery  in  the  Southwest,  and  the  men  are  famous 
blanket  weavers.  There  are  about  2000  persons  in  the 
tribe.  The  name  Hopi  means  "Peaceful  Ones."  Much 
to  their  disgust  other  Indians  sometimes  derisively  call  them 
Moki,  which  means  "Dead  Ones."  They  are  intelligent, 
thrifty,  hospitable,  and  frugal.  Their  lives  are  full  of  toil 
to  raise  crops  in  the  arid  region,  and  full  of  prayers  and 


Arizona 


447 


religious  ceremonies  largely  intended  to  persuade  their  gods 
to  send  water  for  the  crops. 

In  the  northeastern  part  of  Arizona,  and  extending  over 
into  New  Mexico,  is  the  large  reservation  of  the  Navajo 
Indians,  who  number  about  30,000.  This  reservation  exceeds 
in  size  the  combined  area  of  the  three  states  of  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island.  Most  of  it  is  above  an 
altitude  of  6000  feet.  The  people  are  pastoral,  and  own 
large  flocks  of  sheep  and  herds  of  cattle  and  goats.  The 
men  and  boys  tend  these  animals,  raise  a  few  crops,  and 
make  silver  ornaments ;  and  the  women  weave  and  sell 
many  blankets.  In  general  they  are  jovial,  truthful,  and 
intelligent,  and  they  are  among  the  most  industrious  of  the 
Indian  tribes.  Formerly  they  were  one  of  the  predatory 
savage  tribes,  the  terror  of  the  Pueblo  people  and  their 
ancestors.  After  the  acquisition  of  the  Southwest  by  the 
United  States,  they  killed  many  citizens,  especially  when  the 


SHEEP  NEAR  FLAGSTAFF 


448  What  to  See  in  America 

frontier  troops  were  withdrawn  to  participate  in  the  Civil 
War.  It  is  estimated  that  the  warfare  against  the  Navajos 
and  Apaches  from  1849  to  1886  cost  the  United  States 
$50,000,000. 

Well  toward  the  western  side  of  the  state  on  the  Santa  Fe 
route  is  Flagstaff,  which  derived  its  name  from  a  pole  erected 
by  a  party  of  immigrants  who  camped  near  by  and  celebrated 
the  Fourth  of  July.  It  is  about  7000  feet  above  sea  level, 
and  is  a  summer  vacation  place  for  Arizonans.  The  town  has 
several  big  lumber  mills,  and  is  the  site  of  the  Lowell  Observ 
atory,  renowned  for  its  investigation  of  the  planet  Mars. 
The  San  Francisco  Mountains  lie  just  north  of  the  town. 
Their  peaks  are  visible  from  points  within  a  radius  of  two 
hundred  miles,  and  one  of  them,  with  an  altitude  of  12,611 
feet,  is  the  loftiest  height  in  the  state.  Eight  miles  southwest 
of  Flagstaff  is  Walnut  Canyon,  a  rent  in  the  earth  several 
hundred  feet  deep  and  three  miles  long,  with  steep  terraced 
walls.  On  the  sides  of  the  canyon,  under  projections  of  the 
terraces,  are  scores  of  cliff  dwellings.  Sunset  Mountain, 
sixteen  miles  northeast  of  the  town,  is  an  extinct  volcano 
which  rises  a  thousand  feet  above  the  country  round  about. 
It  gets  its  name  from  a  sunset  glow  radiated  by  the  reddish 
cinders  with  which  it  is  tipped.  The  crater  on  top  is  two 
hundred  feet  deep  and  half  a  mile  across.  In  the  depths  of 
the  crater  are  caves  where  ice  is  found  in  the  hottest  part  of 
summer.  About  forty  miles  east  of  Flagstaff  is  Crater 
Mound,  perhaps  the  most  mysterious  geologic  feature  in 
the  West.  It  is  a  circular  ridge  from  one  hundred  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain,  and  this 
ridge,  which  consists  of  loose  fragments  of  rock  and  sand, 
incloses  a  great  hole  six  hundred  feet  deep  and  four  thousand 
feet  across.  Some  persons  have  thought  that  the  hole  was 
made  by  the  impact  of  a  great  meteor,  and  a  mining  company 
was  organized  to  find  and  work  the  huge  mass  of  meteoric 


Arizona 


449 


NATURAL  BRIDGE  NEAR  THE  HAYSTACK  ROCKS 


iron  supposed  to  be  buried  in  the  hole.     However,  a  boring 
one   thousand    feet   deep   failed   to    reveal   a   trace   of  the 
meteor.     Prob 
ably  the  hole  is 
the  result  of  an 
explosion     of 
steam  from  vol 
canic  forces  be 
low. 

Thirty-five 
miles  west  of 
Flatstaff  is  Wil 
liams,  near  which 
is  the  Bill  Wil 
liams  Mountain,  over  9000  feet  high.  The  mountain  was 
named  after  a  famous  scout  who  was  killed  by  the  Indians 
fifty  miles  to  the  south.  It  can  be  ascended  by  an  easy 
bridle  path.  From  Williams  a  branch  railway  runs  nearly 
due  north  sixty-four  miles  to  the  Grand  Canyon.  In  the 
depths  of  the  canyon  flows  the  Colorado  River,  which,  with 
its  tributaries,  gathers  the  waters  of  300,000  square  miles. 

In  Arizona   it   flows 
through  a  thousand- 
mile  series  of  twenty 
vast  canyons,  most  of 
which    have    only    a 
short  break  between. 
The  Grand  Canyon, 
monarch  of  all,  is  the 
third,    counting    up 
stream.      It     is     an 
enormous     gulf       in 
solid  rock,  two  hundred  miles  long,  four  thousand  to  six 
thousand  feet  deep,  and  with  a  width  of  from  seven  to  fifteen 
20 


TUMACACORI  CHURCH 


450  What  to  See  in  America 

miles  at  the  top,  but  less  than  a  thousand  feet  at  the  bottom. 
The  canyon  is  a  masterpiece  of  rock  erosion  —  the  handiwork 
of  the  river  during  long  ages.  Not  only  has  the  debris- 
laden  water  cut  the  channel  but  it  has  also  disintegrated 
and  carried  away  the  thousand-fold  more  of  material  that 
tumbled  into  it  from  the  ever  caving  walls,  which,  as  a  result, 
rise  in  a  series  of  shattered  inclines  with  here  and  there  a 
vertical  section.  These  cliffs  are  like  huge  steps,  each  three 
hundred  to  five  hundred  feet  high,  and  the  intervening  slopes 
mark  the  outcrop  of  softer  rocks.  Down  in  the  depths  is  a 
narrow  inner  canyon  cut  a  thousand  feet  or  more  into  the 
hard  underlying  granite  and  gneiss.  Each  of  the  strata  has 
an  individual  color.  Many  of  the  layers  are  brown  or  red, 
while  others  are  gray,  yellow,  or  green.  The  canyon  is  in  a 
comparatively  level  and  arid  plain,  desolate  and  uninhabit 
able.  The  tributary  streams  of  the  Colorado  come  from 
regions  subject  to  cloudbursts  and  mighty  floods.  Great 
quantities  of  earth  and  rock  and  uprooted  trees  rush  like 
an  avalanche  into  the  main  stream  from  the  side  canyons. 
Lodged  driftwood  over  one  hundred  feet  above  the  ordinary 
water  level  indicates  the  magnitude  of  the  wild  floods.  The 
process  of  excavation  is  still  in  active  operation.  It  will 
continue  until  the  river  reaches  so  low  a  grade  that  it  can 
no  longer  move  the  debris.  Then  the  side  streams  will  cut 
away  the  adjoining  walls,  and  the  canyon  will  widen  until 
its  sides  become  gentle  slopes.  But  this  is  likely  to  require  a 
million  years  or  more.  The  gorge  is  filled  with  mountains, 
some  of  them  five  thousand  feet  high.  Perhaps  nowhere  else 
is  the  crust  of  the  earth's  surface  so  exposed  to  view.  During 
one  period  of  volcanic  activity  a  number  of  lava  streams 
burst  into  the  canyon  through  the  walls,  and  others  flowed 
over  the  brink.  They  filled  it  to  a  depth  of  about  five 
hundred  feet  for  a  distance  of  sixty  miles,  but  much  of  this 
lava  has  since  been  eroded  away. 


Arizona 


451 


THE  GRAND  CANYON  AND  COLORADO  RIVER 


Arizona  453 

The  Indians  have  a  legend  concerning  the  creation  of  the 
canyon.  It  tells  how  a  god  came  to  a  chief  who  mourned  the 
death  of  his  wife,  and  offered  to  prove  to  him  that  she  had 
gone  to  a  happier  land  than  her  earthly  home.  Then  the 
god  clove  a  deep  trail  through  the  wild  high  plains  that 
separated  earth  from  heaven,  and  thus  created  the  Canyon 
of  the  Colorado.  He  led  the  chief  up  this  trail  to  the  realm 
of  joy  and  let  him  look  on  his  wife's  happiness.  When  they 
returned,  lest  the  unworthy  should  find  their  way  to  heaven, 
the  god  turned  a  great  surging  river  into  the  trail. 

The  first  white  men  to  see  the  Grand  Canyon  were  Car 
denas  and  twelve  companions  who  were  guided  there  from 
Tusayan  by  Hopi  Indians  in  1540.  They  remained  four 
days  on  the  rim  looking  in  vain  for  a  way  to  descend.  Then 
they  turned  back  to  join  the  main  expedition  under  Coronado. 
A  government  party  visited  it  in  1859,  and  the  officer  in 
charge  closed  his  report  with  the  statement  that  "Ours 
has  been  the  first  and  will  doubtless  be  the  last  party  of  whites 
to  visit  this  profitless  location.  It  seems  intended  by  Nature 
that  the  Colorado  River,  along  the  greater  portion  of  its 
lonely  and  majestic  way,  shall  be  forever  unvisited  and  un 
disturbed." 

The  river  descends  nearly  a  mile  in  its  course  through  the 
Arizona  canyons,  and  it  was  believed  that  not  only  were  there 
impassable  rapids  and  falls,  but  that  in  places  the  stream 
flowed  along  under  ground.  Thus,  to  attempt  its  navigation 
was  to  court  death.  But  in  1869  Major  John  W.  Powell 
undertook  its  exploration  by  going  down  it  with  nine  men  in 
four  boats.  He  started  on  the  Green  River  in  Utah.  One 
of  the  men  presently  left  and  returned  to  civilization. 
Three  others,  after  holding  out  against  the  terrors  of  the  trip 
for  many  weeks,  decided  they  would  prefer  to  encounter  the 
perils  of  the  unknown  desert.  Unfortunately,  when  they 
climbed  out  on  the  plateau,  they  w^ere  ambushed  and  killed 


454 


What  to  See  in  America 


©  Fred  Harvey 


HERMIT  CAMP  IN  THE  GRAND  CANYON 


by  hostile  savages.  Their  comrades  completed  the  trip  in 
safety,  though  with  frequent  capsizings  in  the  hundreds  of 
rapids,  and  narrow  escapes  from  drowning,  and  the  loss  of 
two  boats.  Of  the  many  other  attempts  since  to  go  through 
the  series  of  canyons  scarce  half  a  dozen  have  succeeded. 

At  one  place  on  Major  Powell's  voyage  he  discovered  a 
little  stream  of  clear  water  joining  the  muddy  current  of  the 
river,  and  because  of  the  purity  of  the  water  he  called  the 
stream  Bright  Angel  Creek.  This  gave  the  name  to  the  trail 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  which  ascends  to  the  railroad 
terminus  on  the  verge  of  the  canyon.  Visitors  began  to 
come  thither  soon  after  1882,  when  the  Santa  Fe  railroad  was 
completed,  but  the  long  rough  ride  to  get  there,  and  the 
expense,  were  serious  deterrents.  Nothing  like  crowds  came 
till  1901,  when  the  branch  railroad  to  the  Bright  Angel  Trail 


Arizona 


455 


superseded  the  old  stages.  The  steep  winding  trail  is  seven 
miles  long.  A  vigorous  person,  accustomed  to  rough  walking, 
can  descend  to  the  river  and  return  on  foot,  but  most  people 
find  a  horse  a  necessity.  April  and  May,  and  October  and 
November  are  the  best  months  for  cultivating  an  acquaintance 
with  the  canyon.  In  summer,  although  the  heat  at  the  rim 
of  the  chasm  is  not  often  oppressive,  the  depths  get  very 
hot.  The  winter  weather  is  bleak  and  disagreeable,  but  the 
effects  given  by  clouds  and  snow  under  the  brilliant  skies 
are  enchanting.  It  is  especially  desirable  to  see  the  canyon 
when  there  is  a  full  moon.  The  canyon,  as  it  appears  with 
the  light  falling  into  it,  harsh,  direct,  and  searching,  is  great, 
but  not  beautiful.  But  the  clouds  and  the  sunset  and  the 
storm  transform  it  and  confer  a  marvelous  splendor.  You 
find  an  astonishing  range  of  climate  in  the  chasm.  On  the 
rim  there  may  be 
a  winter  day 
with  a  snow- 
covered  ground, 
but  a  descent  to 
the  river  gives  a 
change  that  ap- 
proximates  a 
southern  jour 
ney  of  two  thou- 
sand  miles . 
Flowers  bloom 
in  the  lower 
parts  every  month  in  the  year.  The  Bright  Angel  Trail 
follows  the  course  of  a  very  old  Indian  footpath.  Half  way 
down  are  the  Indian  Gardens  where  a  spring  has  made  an 
oasis  formerly  utilized  by  the  red  men.  Of  the  several 
other  trails  into  the  canyon,  Grand  View  Trail,  thirteen 
miles  to  the  east,  is  the  most  notable. 


AT  THE  FOOT  OF  BRIGHT  ANGEL  TRAIL 


WINTER  IN  THE  YOSEMITE 


XLVII 

California 

California  is  a  Spanish  name  which  means  Hot  Furnace. 
This  is  far  from  being  accurately  descriptive  except  of  some 
of  its  desert  portions.  It  is  popularly  called  the  "Golden 
State."  The  people  are  nicknamed  "Gold  Hunters,"  which 
refers  to  the  "Forty-niners"  who  came  in  1849  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  to  California  seeking  fortunes  in  its  gold- 
bearing  sands.  Only  Texas  among  the  states  exceeds  it  in 
size.  It  has  a  thousand-mile  coast  line  which  is  remarkably 
free  from  indentations.  If  transferred  to  the  Atlantic  coast, 
it  would  extend  from  New  York  to  Florida.  The  climate 
varies  greatly  from  place  to  place.  Typical  desert  conditions 
prevail  in  parts  of  the  southern  portion,  while  the  weather  in 
the  northern  coast  region  is  moist  and  equable.  Hot  dry 

456 


California 


457 


summers  and  moderate  winter  rains  are  characteristic  of  the 
great  interior  valley.  Snow  rarely  falls  except  in  the  high 
mountains.  California  is  most  delightful  after  the  rainy 
season  is  past,  in  the  three  spring  months.  By  the  end  of 
February  billows  of  wild-flower  bloom  begin  to  spread  across 
the  landscape,  but  by  June  the  countryside  has  sobered  to 
bronze  and  yellow.  In  all  parts  of  the  state  the  winter 
mornings  and  evenings  are  crisp  or  raw.  The  rains  are 
gentle,  and  fall  more  often  at  night  than  in  the  daytime. 
Continuous  rain  when  the  sun  remains  hidden  all  day  is  rare, 
even  in  the  rainy  season.  In  the  variety  and  value  of  its 
fruit  crops  California  has  no  rival  in  the  United  States. 
It  excels  especially  in 
oranges  and  other  citrus 
fruits.  Of  its  mineral 
products  petroleum  ranks 
first,  and  gold  next.  No 
other  state  produces  as 
much  of  either. 

National  Forests  com 
prise  about  one  quarter 
the  area  of  the  state. 
Their  primary  purpose  is 
to  provide  a  self-renew 
ing  timber  supply  and  a 
regulated  stream  flow ; 
but  visitors  are  welcome, 
and  the  forests  are  being 
used  more  and  more  as 
the  nation's  play  grounds. 
Camping,  hunting,  fish 
ing,  and  trapping  are 
free,  and  so  are  prospect 
ing  and  mining.  Dead  GOLDEN  TROUT  CREEK  FALLS 


458 


What  to  See  in  America 


timber  can  be  used  for 
fuel  by  travelers  and  camp 
ers.  Special  care  must  be 
taken  by  sojourners  in  the 
Forests  not  to  contami 
nate  the  springs  or  creeks, 
for  these  furnish  water  for 
campers  and  settlers  be 
low.  If  you  light  a  match 
in  the  woodland  be  sure 
it  is  out  before  you  throw 
it  away.  Make  certain  by 
pinching  it.  Throw  pipe 
ashes  and  cigar  or  ciga 
rette  stumps  where  you 
can  stamp  out  the  fire. 


INYO  NATIONAL  FOREST 


SUMMIT  OF  SAN  JACINTO  PEAK 


Never  throw  them  into 
leaves  or  dry  vegetable 
matter.  Your  camp  fire 
should  be  small.  Build 
it  in  the  open  —  not 
against  a  tree  or  log,  or 
near  brush.  Scrape  away 
the  trash  from  all  around 
it,  and  construct  a  fire 
place  by  digging  a  hole 
or  piling  up  rocks.  That 
makes  the  fire  draw  bet 
ter  and  is  also  safer. 
Never  leave  a  fire,  even 
for  a  short  time,  without 
quenching  it  with  water 
and  then  covering  it  with 
earth.  Fires  are  reported 


California 


459 


mainly  by  lookouts  located  on  commanding  peaks,  where 
they  remain  continuously  on  duty.  As  soon  as  a  fire  is 
discovered  by  the  mountain  watcher,  he  telephones  or  sig 
nals  to  the  ranger  in  wrhose  district  the  fire  is  located,  and 
immediate  steps  are  taken  to  put  it  out.  Promptness  is  a 
chief  necessity,  and  the  present  system  of  dealing  with  fires 


THE  WHALEBACK  AND  ROARING  RIVER 

has  resulted  in  keeping  the  majority  of  them  to  an  area 
under  one  quarter  of  an  acre,  and  requiring  only  one  or 
two  men  to  handle  them.  Where  large  fires  occur  fire 
fighters  are  recruited  from  near-by  ranchers,  stockmen, 
and  lumbermen,  and  even  from  settlements  outside. 
Campers  are  responsible  for  most  of  the  fires.  Each  forest 
ranger  has  an  average  district  of  60,000  acres.  The  rangers 
assist  in  enforcing  the  game  laws  and  destroying  predatory 


460 


What  to  See  in  America 


animals.  They  kill  yearly  in  California  about  eight  hundred 
mountain  lions,  coyotes,  and  wild  cats.  The  principal  game 
animal  in  the  state's  National  Forests  is  the  black-tailed 
deer.  Probably  15,000  deer  are  killed  annually  by  hunters, 

and  a  somewhat 
larger  number  by 
mountain  lions. 

California's  first 
settlement  was  a 
Mission  established 
at  San  Diego  in  1769 
by  a  little  company 
of  monks,  whose 
leader  was  Father 
Junipero  Serra. 
Twenty  other  Cali 
fornia  Missions  were 
organized  during  the 
next  fifty-four  years. 
Their  purpose  was 
to  convert  the  In 
dians  to  Christianity, 
and  to  teach  them 
cleanliness,  agricul 
ture,  and  the  crafts. .  It  was  a  difficult  task,  for  the  natives 
were  degraded  and  indolent,  and  they  sometimes  massacred 
and  burned,  but  on  the  whole  they  and  the  monks  got  along 
very  well  together.  The  Missions  received  wayfarers  who 
arrived,  either  mounted  or  on  foot,  seeking  a  night's  hos 
pitality.  Fine  gentlemen  were  housed  in  the  priests'  quar 
ters,  and  those  not  so  fine  in  the  arched  wings  where  the 
Brothers  slept.  Food  and  a  bed  were  free  to  all,  but  each 
departing  guest,  if  able,  left  an  offering  on  the  chapel  altar. 
If,  however,  his  saddlebags  and  purse  were  empty  the  Fathers 


EAGLE  FALLS  NEAR  LAKE  TAHOE 


California 


461 


DOLORES  MISSION,  SAN  FRANCISCO 


saw  that  he  had  meal 
and  money  to  go  on 
with,  and  perhaps  a 
rush-braided  flagon  of 
Mission  wine.  When 
there  began  to  be  ranch 
houses  on  the  plains 
their  Spanish  and  Mexi 
can  owners  observed 
this  same  hospitality. 

One  of  the  Franciscan 
Missions  and  a  Spanish  military  post  known  as  a  presidio 
were  established  on  the  site  of  San  Francisco  in  1776.  The 
presidio  was  beside  the  Golden  Gate  and  the  Mission  three 
miles  southeast.  Sixty  years  later  the  settlement  of  Yerba 
Buena,  a  name  that  means  the  Pleasant  Herb,  was  begun 
by  a  little  cove  southeast  of  Telegraph  Hill.  The  name  San 
Francisco  was  applied  to  all  three  settlements.  There  were 
less  than  a  thousand  inhabitants  in  May,  1848.  The  place 
had  a  school,  and  it  had  a  newspaper,  the  first  issue  of  which, 
printed  on  paper  that  the  Spaniards  used  to  wrap  their  ci- 

garritos,  had  ap 
peared  two  years 
previous.  Then 
came  the  finding 
of  gold  and  there 
was  a  stampede 
to  the  region 
where  it  had 
been  discovered. 
Soldiers  and  sail 
ors  deserted,  the 

LOOKING  OUT  OF  THE  GOLDEN  GATE  FROM  THE  Closed, 

SAN  FRANCISCO  FISHERMEN'S  WHARVES  and    the   news- 


462 


What  to  See  in  America 


paper  suspended.  Business  was  at  a  standstill.  But  a  few 
months  later  the  hare  brown  hills  and  curving  shores  of  San 
Francisco  were  whitening  with  tents,  goods  were  piled  high 
in  the  open  air,  and  the  drowsy  Spanish  town  had  expanded 
into  a  tumultuous  little  city.  Everywhere  were  springing 
up  nondescript  lodging  and  boarding  houses,  drinking  re 
sorts,  and  gambling  saloons.  Crowds  of  people  slept  wedged 
together  on  floors  and  tables,  in  rows  of  cots,  or  in  bunks 
fastened  in  tiers  to  the  walls.  The  streets  of  sticky  clay  or 
deep  sand  were  thronged  with  struggling  horses,  mules,  and 
oxen,  and  by  crowds  of  men  of  many  nationalities  and  all 
levels  of  life,  who  jostled  by,  laughing,  railing,  or  cursing. 
Workmen  charged  twenty  dollars  a  day,  flour  was  forty 
dollars  a  barrel,  eggs  were  a  dollar  apiece. 

Forces  both  of  good  and  evil  streamed  into  the  city,  and 
naturally  came  into  collision.  The  population  found  itself 
removed  from  well-nigh  all  restraints.  A  series  of  un 
punished  crimes  roused 
the  public.  Many  fires, 
doubtless  of  incendiary 
origin,  devastated  the 
city.  Over  a  hundred 
murders  occurred  in  a  few 
months,  and  not  a  single 
capital  punishment  fol 
lowed.  Presently,  in 
1852,  a  party  of  promi 
nent  citizens  organized 
that  spectacular  popular 
uprising  known  as  the 
Vigilance  Committee,  as 
a  defense  against  the  al 
lied  rabble.  The  same 
Mum  WOODS  night  an  ex-convict  was 


California 


463 


MT.  SHASTA 

seized  in  the  act  of  stealing.  He  was  tried  at  once  by  the 
Vigilants,  convicted,  sentenced,  and  hanged  in  Portsmouth 
Square.  The  committee  went  on  investigating  and  punish 
ing.  Evil-doers  were  terrified,  and  crime  rapidly  diminished. 
At  the  end  of  thirty  days  the  activities  of  the  Vigilants  were 
no  longer  needed.  But  a  few  years  later  the  old  suppressed 
crimes  again  leaped  into  eminence,  and  came  to  a  climax  in 
1856  when  a  crooked  politician  named  Casey  fatally  wounded 
with  his  revolver  James  King,  editor  of  the  Evening  Bulletin, 
near  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Montgomery  streets. 
During  King's  funeral  a  gallows  was  raised  in  front  of  the 
Yigilants'  rooms  on  Sacramento  Street,  and  there,  under 
guard  of  "3000  stand  of  muskets  and  two  fieldpieces,"  with 
an  onlooking  throng,  Casey  and  another  murderer  were 
hung.  This  ended  the  second  reign  of  vice. 

The  earliest  regular  overland   mail  communication  with 
the  East  was  established  by  pony  express  in  1860.     Postage 


464 


What  to  See  in  America 


was  five  dollars  for  half 
an  ounce.  In  1869  the 
first  transcontinental 
railroad  was  completed. 

The  city  suffered  from 
severe  earthquakes  in 
1839,  1865,  1868,  and 
1906.  On  the  last  occa 
sion  the  property  loss  con 
stituted  one  of  the  great 
catastrophes  of  history. 
The  shock  occurred  at 
about  five  in  the  morning 
of  April  18  and  lasted 
scarcely  a  minute.  Streets 
cracked,  chimneys  fell, 
and  the  city  hall  became 
a  mass  of  ruins.  But  the 
damage  would  have  been 
comparatively  slight  had 
not  the  water  mains  been 
broken,  so  that  the  fires 
which  immediately  started  could  not  be  checked.  The  flames 
raged  for  three  days,  and  a  large  part  of  the  city,  including 
most  of  the  business  section,  was  destroyed.  About  five 
hundred  persons  lost  their  lives,  and  the  property  damage 
was  nearly  half  a  billion  dollars.  Yet  within  three  years 
the  city  was  practically  rebuilt.  As  it  is  now  it  is  unrivaled 
in  its  modernity,  and  it  continues  to  be  the  largest  place  on 
the  Pacific  Coast. 

The  city  is  beautifully  situated  at  the  north  end  of  a 
peninsula  with  the  ocean  on  one  side  and  on  the  other  the 
Bay  of  San  Francisco,  one  of  the  most  magnificent  land 
locked  harbors  in  the  world.  The  bay  is  about  fifty  miles 


©  C.  M.  Redding 
MT.  LASSEN  VOLCANO 


California 


465 


long.  Its  entrance  is  through  the  Golden  Gate,  a  strait 
which  is  a  mile  wide  at  its  narrowest  point.  On  Telegraph 
Hill  in  the  northerly  part  of  the  city  stood  the  semaphore 
which  signaled  the  arrival  of  ships  in  the  days  of  the  gold 
seekers.  Most  of  the  level  land  in  the  business  section  has 
been  made  by  filling  in  the  bay.  Some  of  the  streets  are 
amazingly  steep,  and  the  cable-propelled  street  cars  that 
climb  and  descend  them  are  a  distinctive  feature  of  the  city 
locomotion.  Fantastic  old  Chinatown  was  utterly  effaced 
by  the  great  fire,  and  San  Francisco  said  the  yellow  men 
should  never  reestablish  themselves.  But  Oriental  tenacity 
won,  and  the  new  Chinese  city  of  10,000  inhabitants  has 
features  of  considerable  interest.  The  junction  of  Market 
with  Kearny  and  Geary  streets  used  to  be  called,  Cape  Horn, 
because  it  was  so  windy.  Some  of  the  literary  notables  who 
have  been  associated  with  San  Francisco  for  varying  periods 
are  "Mark  Twain,"  Bret  Harte,  Henry  George,  and  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson.  Stevenson's  journey  from  New  York  to 
San  Francisco  is  described  in  "Across  the  Plains,"  and  a 
sojourn  in  the  Xapa  Mountains  furnished  material  for 
"The  Silverado  Squatters." 

About  a  mile  southwest  of  the  City  Hall,  where  Dolores 
and  16th  streets  join, 
is  an  adobe-walled 
chapel  built  in  1782. 
Here  Father  Junipero 
established  a  Mission 
settlement  near  a 
willow-edged  stream 
which  was  named 
"Our  Lady  of  the 
Weeping  Willows," 
and  the  village  be 
came  known  as  the 
2H 


STATE  HOUSE,  SACRAMENTO 


466 


What  to  See  in  America 


SAN  CARLOS  MISSION  CHURCH  AT 
MONTEREY 


Mission  of  Sorrows  - 
Dolores.  The  chapel  was 
unscathed  by  the  earth 
quake,  though  a  modern 
church  beside  it  crum 
bled  and  fell,  and  the 
flames  were  stayed  just 
before  they  reached  it. 
Some  think  it  was  spared 
by  divine  intervention. 
In  its  cemetery  rest 

10,000  dead  beneath  a  jungle  of  vines.  Of  the  commemorat 
ing  stones  there  the  one  which  rouses  most  popular  interest 
is  an  ornate  monument  over  the  remains  of  James  Casey, 
gangster  and  assassin. 

There  is  still  a  presidio  on  the  same  site  as  that  founded 

by  the  Spanish,  and  in  the 
garrison  park  is  the  oldest 
clay  house  in  San  Fran 
cisco.  Somewhat  to  the 
south  is  Golden  Gate  Park, 
a  former  waste  of  dunes 
occupied  by  squatters,  but 
now  transformed  into  a 
semitropical  paradise.  One 
of  the  interesting  objects 
in  the  park  is  Amundsen's 
stout  ship  Gjoa,  which 
ploughed  the  ice  of  the 
Northwest  Passage.  An 
other  is  a  Dutch  windmill 
of  giant  proportions,  said 
to  be  the  largest  in  the 
ROCKS  AT  MONTEREY  world.  Near  the  west  end  of 


California 


467 


the  park  is  the  famous 
('lift'  House,  overhang 
ing  the  ocean,  and  a 
short  distance  out  from 
the  shore  are  the  Seal 
Rocks,  where  the  great 
sea-lions  gambol  and 
emit  their  strange  cries. 
At  one  point  on  the 
shore  is  the  Giant  Tub, 
in  which  San  Francis 
cans  take  their  salt 
water  plunge  when  the 
ocean  in  the  open  is 
too  chilly.  Beneath  the 
glass  roof  25,000  per 
sons  could  find  room 
to  bathe  or  look  on,  or 
to  stroll  in  the  cheerful 
corridors.  California's  favoring  climate  has  fostered  the  ar 
rangement  of  many  outdoor  auditoriums  in  the  forest  and 
near  the  sea.  The  most  renowned  woodland  theater  is  that 
in  which  the  Bohemian  Club  gives  its  annual  Jinks  in  August 
among  the  sequoias  near  Cazadero,  thirty  miles  north  of  San 
Francisco. 

One  of  the  prettiest  towns  on  the  bay  is  Sausalito,  the 
starting  point  for  the  railway  which  ascend  to  Mt.  Tamalpais, 
a  volcanic  cone  that  rises  2600  feet  above  the  water.  The 
railroad  has  more  curves  in  proportion  to  its  length  than 
any  other  ever  built.  One  of  its  looping  intricacies  is  called 
the  "Double  Bow  Knot."  A  part  of  the  woodland  on  the 
mountain  side  is  sequoia  forest  preserved  in  its  primitive 
state.  Santa  Rosa,  about  forty  miles  farther  north,  is  the 
home  of  the  botanist-magician,  Luther  Burbank.  Just  over 


VANCOUVER  PINNACLES  NEAR  SODEDAP 


468 


What  to  See  in  America 


the  mountains  to  the  east  is  Calistoga,  in  the  vicinity  of 
which  are  various  resorts  where  healing  waters  flow  abun 
dantly  from  the  volcanic  soil.  A  short  drive  takes  you  from 
Calistoga  to  a  wonderful  petrified  forest  of  oaks  and  cone- 
bearing  trees,  and  twenty-six  miles  distant  are  the  Sonoma 

County  Geysers.  There 
are  more  than  one  hun 
dred  of  these  spouting 
springs,  and  the  earth 
about  their  hissing  rifts 
is  hot  to  the  feet. 

In  the  far  northern 
part  of  the  state  is 
the  mighty  Mt.  Shasta 
whose  snow-crowned 
summit  rises  to  a  height 
of  14,400  feet.  The  as 
cent  is  not  especially 
difficult  or  dangerous. 
At  the  top  you  find  a 
mile-wide  crater,  2500 
feet  deep,  and  steaming 
springs  among  the  loose 
stones.  Sometimes 
cavernous  rumblings 
give  warning  that  the 
Glaciers  grind  their  slow  way 


IN  THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  SANTA  BARBARA 

MISSION 


grizzly  volcano  is  not  dead, 
down  several  valleys. 

Fifty  miles  south  of  Shasta,  at  the  meeting  point  of  the 
Cascade  Mountains  and  the  Sierra,  is  Lassen  Peak,  10,437 
feet  high,  which  become  an  active  volcano  in  1914,  after 
slumbering  for  centuries.  May  19  of  the  next  year  an  erup 
tion  of  hot  gases  burst  forth  beneath  the  deeply  snow- 
covered  northeast  slope.  The  snow  was  instantly  changed 


California 


469 


THE  Y 


into  water  and 
steam,  and  a 
flood  rushed 
down  the  chan- 
ne 1  of  Lo  s  t 
Creek.  For  sev 
eral  miles  trees 
were  uprooted  or 
broken  off,  and 
meadows  were 
piled  with  bowl 
ders  and  other 
debris.  At  the 
same  time  a  hur 
ricane  of  hot  gases  killed  a  stretch  of  forest  that  was  from  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  to  a  mile  wide  and  ten  miles  long.  The 
ruins  which  the  erup 
tion  left  behind  may 
now  be  viewed  with 
ease  and  safety.  Red 
Bluff  is  the  most  con 
venient  railroad  sta 
tion  whence  to  make 
a  visit. 

Just  across  the  bay 
from  San  Francisco, 
at  Oakland,  is  Shell 
Park  Mound.  The 
mound  which  gives 
the  park  its  name  is 
two  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  long  and 
twenty-seven  feet 
high,  and  is  com-  ROYAL  ARCHES,  YOSEMITE 


470  What  to  See  in  America 

posed  of  loose  soil  mixed  with  an  immense  number  of  shells 
of  clams,  oysters,  and  other  shellfish  gathered  for  food  by 
the  prehistoric  inhabitants  of  the  region.  Over  four  hundred 
such  mounds  have  been  discovered  within  thirty  miles  of  San 
Francisco. 

An  attractive  way  to  journey  from  San  Francisco  to  the 
capital  is  by  stern  wheel  steamer  up  the  Sacramento  River, 
a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles.  John 
Sutter,  a  Swiss,  was  Sacramento's  first  settler.  There  he 
built  a  fort  in  1839  and  called  the  domain  which  was  granted 
to  him  by  the  Mexican  Government  New  Helvetia  in  honor 
of  his  native  land.  During  the  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  he  and  his  companions  proclaimed  the 
"American  Republic  of  California,"  and  created  the  "flag 
of  the  grizzly,  the  star,  and  the  bar"  to  meet  the  emergency. 
By  a  treaty  of  peace  signed  in  February,  1848,  the  United 
States  acquired  New  Mexico  and  California  for  $15,000,000. 
Only  a  month  previous,  an  employee  of  Sutter's,  while 
blasting  a  mill  race  for  a  sawmill  Sutter  was  building  on  the 
American  River,  brought  to  light  some  yellow  particles 
which  proved  to  be  gold.  Before  the  year's  end  gold  dust  to 
the  value  of  $6,000,000  had  been  taken  from  the  placers  of 
California.  The  next  year  about  100,000  Forty-niners 
arrived  from  the  East.  Sutter's  land  was  preempted  by 
the  rush  of  gold  diggers.  His  own  reward  was  a  pension  of 
$3000.  Sutter's  fort  consisted  of  an  adobe  wall  eighteen 
feet  high  and  three  feet  thick  inclosing  a  space  five  hundred 
feet  long  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  wide.  It  had  twenty-four 
cannon  and  a  garrison  of  one  hundred  well-drilled  Indians 
in  uniform.  The  fort  became  ruinous  as  time  went  on,  but 
it  has  now  been  restored.  When  the  California  State  House 
was  completed  in  1867  it  was  declared  to  be  the  most  beautiful 
public  building  in  the  United  States.  The  city  takes  pride 
in  an  ostrich  farm  which  yields  a  considerable  income. 


California 


471 


THE  YOSEMITE  FALLS  —  THE  HIGHEST  IN  THE  WORLD 


California  473 

Thirty  miles  southeast  of  San  Francisco  is  Palo  Alto.  The 
name  means  Tall  Tree,  and  the  great  redwood  which  sug 
gested  the  name  still  stands.  Stanford  University  is  the 
great  attraction  at  Palo  Alto.  It  has  an  endowment  of 
$30,000,000,  and  its  buildings,  in  the  Mission  style  of  archi 
tecture,  with  long  corridors  and  inner  courts,  are  the  finest 
possessed  by  any  university  in  the  world. 

San  Jose,  the  "  City  Beautiful,"  twenty  miles  farther  south, 
was  established  by  the  Spaniards  in  1797,  and  is  therefore  old 
as  California  reckons  time.  It  is  in  the  center  of  the  largest 
compact  orchard  on  the  globe.  This  is  sheltered  by  the 
mountains  round  about  from  every  asperity  of  land  or  sea. 
Twenty-six  miles  away  is  the  Lick  Observatory  on  Mt. 
Hamilton.  The  distance  to  the  summit  from  the  base  of 
the  mountain  is  only  two  miles  in  a  direct  line,  but  by  the 
road  it  is  seven  miles.  The  road  is  said  to  make  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  bends  between  base  and  summit.  The 
observatory  is  one  of  the  most  notable  in  the  world  in  point 
of  situation,  equipment,  and  achievement.  Its  great 
telescope  has  a  thirty-six-inch  object  glass.  James  Lick, 
whose  gift  of  $700,000  built  the  observatory,  is  buried  in  the 
foundation  pier  of  the  telescope. 

One  of  California's  most  attractive  beach  resorts  is  Santa 
Cruz.  The  town  is  ideal  in  climate  and  in  its  outlook  from 
its  hillside  retreat.  Within  a  few  miles  is  a  grove  of  one 
hundred  great  redwoods  which  rival  the  Sequoia  gigantea  in 
height  and  grace.  Fremont  and  his  soldiers  camped  in  this 
pillared  forest  in  the  winter  of  1847.  A  hollow  stump  which 
served  as  his  shelter  is  named  for  him.  This  same  stump  is 
said  to  have  been  the  family  dwelling  of  a  trapper,  and  the 
birthplace  of  several  of  his  children. 

Monterey  is  another  charming  shore  resort.  It  was  there 
that  Father  Junipero  Serra,  the  saint  of  the  Spanish  regime 
on  the  coast,  founded  the  second  of  California's  Missions. 


474 


What  to  See  in  America 


On  a  June  day  in 
1 770  he  and  his  com 
pany  landed  below 
the  present  presidio 
after  a  voyage  from 
San  Diego,  and 
raised  with  accus 
tomed  ceremony  a 
thatched  altar,  and 
swung  from  the  limbs 
of  an  oak,  which  still 
lives,  the  clarion 
bells  that  should  call 
to  the  worship  of  the 
true  God  the  Indians 
of  the  vicinity.  San 
Carlos  Mission  was 
afterward  removed 
from  the  site  near 
the  garrison  to  a  val 
ley,  six  miles  away,  where  the  Carmel  River  meets  the  ocean. 
For  fourteen  years  Father  Junipero  lived  there,  only  going 
at  intervals  to  the  other  Missions  he  established.  They 
were  all  approximately  thirty  miles  apart  —  a  day's  journey. 
In  1784  the  good  priest  died  at  San  Carlos,  and  there  he 
lies  buried.  The  church  as  it  is  now  is  one  of  the  most 
attractive  and  extensive  ruins  on  the  coast.  Its  exterior  is 
almost  perfect,  and  much  of  the  decorative  masonry  has  not 
yet  crumbled. 

About  thirty  miles  easterly  from  Monterey,  near  Soledad 
on  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  are  numerous  caves,  and 
there  are  many  spire-like  rock  formations  that  are  from  six 
hundred  to  one  thousand  feet  high.  These  "Pinnacles"  are 
visible  for  a  long  distance.  Seventy-five  miles  farther  south 


THE  THREE  BROTHERS  —  YOSEMITE 


California 


475 


on  the  railroad  is  Paso  Robles  (Pass  of  the  Oaks).  Here 
are  medicinal  springs  which  healed  the  Indians  long  before 
the  white  men  came.  Now  you  find  a  great  establishment 
that  is  both  a  sanatorium  and  a  tourist  hotel,  where  every 
kind  of  water  cure  may  be  taken.  The  temperature  of  the 
sulphur  spring  that  supplies  the  bathhouse  is  one  hundred 
and  seven  degrees. 

A  little  farther  south,  at  San  Luis  Obispo,  is  another  of  the 
old  Missions.  In  the  garden-court  of  the  Mission,  guarded 
by  a  white-pillared  portico  and  the  cupola-spire  of  the 
church,  are  gnarled  grapevines  and  an  enormous  palm.  San 
Luis  is  connected  by  railroad  with  Port  Harford,  near  which 
is  Pizmo  Beach,  an  ex 
traordinary  floor  of  hard- 
packed  sand,  twenty 
miles  in  length.  In 
summer  this  beach  is 
thronged  with  people 
who  dwell  for  the  most 
part  in  neighboring  tents 
and  cottages.  Over  the 
firm  shining  strand  many 
fast  motor  races  are  run. 

Charming  Santa  Bar 
bara,  once  the  dwelling 
place  of  Spanish  aris 
tocracy,  has  retained  a 
character  of  its  own 
which  distinguishes  it 
from  all  other  California 
tourists'  haunts.  In  its 
byways  are  houses  which 
stood  there  when  a  fine 
horse  to  ride,  plenty  of  THE  OVERHANG,  HALF  DOME 


476 


What  to  See  in  America 


beef  and  frijoles  to  eat,  and  cigarros  to  smoke,  tokened  the 
local  Spaniards'  gauge  of  bliss.  Whole  days  were  spent  on 
horseback,  visiting  taverns,  and  galloping  from  host  to  host. 
There  was  an  Indian  village  here  when  the  Spaniards  came 
in  1782  and  established  a  garrison.  Four  years  later  the 
Indians  were  put  to  work  as  masons  and  carpenters  to  build 
a  Mission.  The  present  thick- walled,  Moorish-towered 
monastery,  which  was  erected  not  long  afterward,  still  re 
sounds  with  the  intoning 
of  the  monks,  and  is  the 
best  conserved  and  most 
visited  of  all  the  Mission 
edifices.  Many  are  the 
delectable  rides,  walks, 
and  sails  to  be  had  about 
Santa  Barbara.  The 
twelve-mile  Mountain 
Drive  which  circles  the 
hills  of  Montecito  is  the 
traditional  Saturday 
afternoon  promenade  of 
all  the  town.  Directly 
off  the  coast  about  a  score 
of  miles  is  a  series  of 
islands.  One  of  these 
islands  is  Ahacapa,  the 
attractions  of  whose 
rocky  broken  heap  are 
its  steep  cliffs,  and  the 
wonderful  wTeeds  and 
moonstone  pebbles  about 
their  base.  The  great 
arched  caves  of  the  island 
VERNAL  FALLS  coast  of  Santa  Cruz  and 


California 


477 


such  indentations  of  its 
shores  as  Potato  I  [arbor, 
Pelican  Bay,  and  Smug 
glers  Cove  are  favorite 
resorts  for  excursionists 
and  anglers.  Most  Santa 
Barbara  visitors  would 
be  interested  to  read  the 
account  of  early  days 
there  in  Dana's  "Two 
Years  Before  the  Mast." 
The  book  entertainingly 
describes  the  aspect  and 
customs  of  every  old  sea 
town  from  San  Francisco 
to  San  Diego. 

The  San  Joaquin  Val 
ley  is  one  of  the  great 
agricultural  basins  of  the 
world.  It  is  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  miles  long 

by  about  fifty  wide.  In  it  grows  half  the  wheat  raised  in 
California,  and  wheat  farms  of  10,000  to  50,000  acres  are  not 
uncommon.  Here  too  you  may  see  thousands  of  acres  of 
alfalfa,  vast  vineyards,  and  astonishingly  large  orchards  of 
prunes,  peaches,  apricots,  figs,  and  other  fruits.  It  produces 
fabulous  crops  of  asparagus,  potatoes,  beans,  and  melons, 
and  is  famous  for  its  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs.  Nearly  all 
the  raisins  grown  in  the  United  States  come  from  here. 
About  the  end  of  August  the  grapes  are  cut  and  laid  on  trays 
to  dry  in  the  hot  sun  for  something  like  three  weeks.  There 
have  been  years  when  the  yield  was  so  abundant  that  the 
raisins  were  fed  to  cattle.  To  promote  their  use  as  a  food  the 
30th  of  April  is  observed  throughout  the  state  as  Raisin  Day. 


ARCHED  ROCK  BETWEEN  EL  PORTAL 
AND  THE  YOSEMITE 


478 


What  to  Reo  in  America 


MIRROR  LAKE 

On  that  day  every  loyal  inhabitant  is  expected  to  help  one 
of  California's  great  industries  by  partaking  of  as  many 
dishes  as  possible  in  which  dried  grapes  are  used.  Irrigation 
is  the  chief  dependence  for  producing  crops,  and  water  for  this 
purpose  is  abundant.  The  metropolis  of  the  southern  part 
of  the  valley  is  Bakersfield,  the  center  of  California's  richest 
oil  fields.  Around  Stockton,  at  the  other  end  of  the  valley, 
are  reclaimed  delta  lands,  broken  into  island  farms  that 
remind  one  of  Holland.  Barges  ply  the  canals,  which  branch 
from  the  river  and  form  convenient  waterways  for  the 
transport  of  dairy  produce  and  cereals,  fruit  and  vegetables, 
and  they  enable  the  butcher  to  make  his  deliveries  by  boat 
at  the  farmer's  door. 

East  of  the  valley  are  the  wonderful  heights  and  valleys 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  inviting  you  to  make  excursions  into 


California 


479 


them.  Much  of  the  year  winter  has  such  a  grip  on  them 
that  they  are  not  easily  accessible,  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  in  climbing  the  range 
passes  through  thirty-seven  miles  of  snowsheds.  Among 
the  heights,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  east  of 
San  Francisco,  is  the  important  Calaveras  Grove  of  sequoias. 
These  trees  grow  in  thirty-two  groves,  all  of  which  are  on  the 
western  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  at  a  height  exceeding 
3000  feet.  A  Calaveras  tree  which  was  cut  in  order  to  make 
a  dance  floor  of  the  stump  was  twenty-four  feet  in  diameter 
and  only  1300  years  old. 

Somewhat  farther  on  is  the  Yosemite  National  Park.  It  is 
a  little  larger  than  Rhode  Island.  The  lower  parts  have  an 
altitude  of  about  3000  feet,  and  two  of  the  peaks  exceed 
13,000  feet  in  height.  The  best  months  for  a  visit  are  May 
and  June,  when  the  falls  have  the  most  water  and  there  is 
no  dust.  Travelers  usually  go  to  the  Yosemite  Valley  by 
way  of  Merced  and  El  Portal.  From  the  latter  place  a 
twelve-mile  stage  road  takes  you  into  the  heart  of  the  valley. 
You  can  go  there  at  any  time  in  the  year,  but  the  cold  and  the 


TUOLUMNE  MEADOWS  AND  CATHEDRAL  PEAK 


480 


What  to  See  in  America 


heavy  snowfall  on  the  mountains  are  deterrents  in  winter. 
The  valley  is  seven  miles  long,  has  an  average  width  of  one 
mile,  and  is  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  deep.  Its  floor 
is  well  grassed,  and  is  adorned  with  trees  and  groves. 
Through  it  winds  the  Merced  River  by  which  the  valley 
was  cut  from  the  solid  granite  nearly  to  its  present  depth. 
The  meandering  Merced  was  then  a  roaring  torrent  that 
gouged  constantly  deeper,  helped  by  the  friction  of  quan 
tities  of  sand  and  rock  frag 
ments  it  carried  down  from 
the  High  Sierra.  It  scoured 
the  canyon  day  and  night 
for  millions  of  years.  The 
valley  was  V-shaped  when 
the  glaciers  arrived,  and  the 
present  waterfalls  were  cas 
cades.  The  ice  that  filled 
the  canyon  for  unknown 
thousands  of  years  widened 
and  deepened  it,  made  it  U- 
shaped  and  transformed  the 
cascades  into  waterfalls.  A 
lake  occupied  the  valley, 
after  the  ice  vanished,  but 
finally  filled  with  sediment. 
About  twenty-five  small  gla 
ciers  still  remain  in  the  park, 
and  there  are  ten  times  that 
number  of  glacier-formed 
lakes. 

An  Indian  legend  tells  of 
a   young  brave,  one  of  the 
dwellers  in  the  valley,  who, 
WAWONA  TREE  while  going  to  Mirror  Lake 


California 


481 


to  spear  fish,  encountered  a  huge 
grizzly  bear,  lie  fought  the 
beast  with  his  spear  and  a 
club,  and  finally  killed  it.  This 
exploit  won  for  the  young 
brave  the  name  Yosemite,  which 
means  "Full-grown  Grizzly 
Bear."  The  name  was  trans 
mitted  to  his  children,  and 
eventually  given  to  the  entire 
tribe  inhabiting  the  valley.  Mir 
ror  Lake  was  called  the  "Sleep 
ing  Water  "  by  the  Indians. 

The  valley  was  first  seen  by 
white  men  in  1851,  when  a 
military  expedition  went  there 
to  negotiate  with  the  tribe. 
Not  till  four  years  later  did  it 
have  any  more  white  visitors, 
and  then  the  flow  of  Yosemite 
sightseers  began,  though  the  an 
nual  average  in  the  next  half 
dozen  years  was  only  about  a 
hundred.  Not  until  1874  were 
the  first  wagon  roads  completed 
to  the  valley.  A  few  Indians 
are  even  yet  permanent  dwell 
ers  in  the  valley,  and  others 
come  there  to  live  during  the 
summer.  They  gather  wood,  pine  nuts,  and  acorns,  catch 
fish,  do  household  work  for  the  whites,  and  sit  in  their  cabins 
or  under  the  trees  weaving  baskets  to  sell  to  tourists. 

The  ponderous,  almost  perpendicular  cliff,  El  Capitan,  at 
the  "entrance  to  the  valley,  rises  3600  feet  above  the  wild 
2i 


482 


TVhat  to  See  in  America 


flowers;  Cathedral 
Rocks,  2600  feet;  Half 
Dome,  5000  feet;  and 
Clouds  Rest,  6000  feet. 
Perhaps  the  most  beau 
tiful  waterfall  at  all  times 
and  seasons  is  the  900- 
foot  Bridal  Veil.  It  is 
not  inaptly  named,  for 
the  breeze  catches  it  and 
sways  it  outward  and 
wafts  it  in  gauzy  fes 
toons  from  side  to  side, 
giving  it  a  marked  like 
ness  to  a  slender  veil  of 
white  cloth  of  delicate 
texture.  The  Indian 
name  for  this  fail  meant 
the  "Spirit  of  the  Evil 
Wind."  The  Indians  thought  its  influence  baleful,  they 
heard  the  murmur  of  ghostly  voices  in  the  sounds  of  its 
falling,  they  felt  the  breath  of  a  destroying  angel  in  the  cool 
air  that  drifted  away  from  it.  There  was  ill  omen  merely 
in  passing  it.  Across  the  valley  is  a  very  tiny  waterfall 
known  as  the  Maiden's  Tear.  It  is  so  called  because  it  is 
so  far  from  the  Bridal  Veil.  The  upper  Yosemite  Fall  meas 
ures  1430  feet,  the  Lower  Fall,  320  feet,  and  the  total  drop 
from  crest  to  river,  including  intermediate  cascades,  is  half 
a  mile.  The  slender  Ribbon  Fall  makes  a  vertical  drop  of 
2300  feet,  Nevada  Fall  600,  and  Vernal  Fall  300  feet. 

In  the  park  are  three  groves  of  the  giant  sequoias.  The 
Mariposa  Grove,  which  is  by  far  the  most  important  of  the 
three,  contains  about  five  hundred  and  fifty  of  these  trees. 
Among  them  is  the  Grizzly  Giant,  which  has  a  diameter  of 


BUBBS  CREEK  FALLS,  SEQUOIA  PARK 


California 


483 


thirty  feet  and  a  height  of  two  hundred  and  four  feet.  The 
grove  is  a  thirty-two-mile  stage  ride  from  the  valley.  Some 
of  the  other  species  of  trees  in  the  grove  grow  to  enormous 
size.  Many  of  the  sugar  and  yellow  pines  are  from  four  to 
ten  feet  in  diameter  and  nearly  or  quite  two  hundred  feet 
high.  The  former's  cones  are  the  largest  produced  by  any 
conifer.  Occasionally  they  reach  a  length  of  almost  two 
feet. 

About  a  hundred  miles  south  is  the  Gen.  Grant  National 
Park  of  Big  Trees,  and  fifty  miles  farther  on  is  the  large 
Sequoia  National  Park.  In  the  latter  is  the  General  Sherman 
Tree,  reputed  to  be  the  oldest  living  thing  on  the  face  of  the 
earth.  It  is  one  hundred  and  three  feet  in  circumference 
and  two  hundred  and  eighty  feet  high.  In  volume  of  wood  it 
seems  to  be  the  largest  known  tree.  The  sequoia  is  Nature's 
forest  masterpiece.  More  than  a  million  of  these  trees 


THE  FALLEN  MOXAKCH 


484 


What  to  See  in  America 


grow  within  the  confines  of  the  Sequoia  Park,  many  of  them 
mere  babes  that  are  only  a  few  score  years  old.  At  least 
12,000  are  over  ten  feet  in  diameter.  They  do  not  attain 
full  vigor  until  they  have  reached  the  age  of  about  1500 
years,  and  a  few  are  still  sturdy  which  are  three,  four,  and 
possibly  five  thousand  years  old.  In  a  fruitful  year  a  single 
tree  may  produce  1,000,000  seeds.  The  seeds  are  exceedingly 
small,  and  develop  in  cones  only  about  two  and  one  half  inches 
long.  Middle-aged  trees  are  commonly  free  of  branches 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  above  the  ground.  The  tip  of 
the  older  trees  has  usually  been  smashed  by  lightning,  and  is 
a  dead  snag  surrounded  by  living  upward-turned  branches. 
The  wood  resists  decay  marvelously,  and  a  fallen  tree  will 
remain  sound  for  hundreds  of  years. 

The  General  Grant  Park  is  on  the  route  from  Sanger  to 
Kings  River  Canyon.  The  South  Fork  of  the  river  flows 
through  a  canyon  that  rivals  the  beauty  of  the  Yosemite. 
The  scenery  near  the  headwaters  around  Bullfrog  Lake  is 
particularly  wild,  and  in  that  vicinity  Mt.  Whitney,  the 
supreme  apex  of  all  the  mountains  in  the  United  States,  rises 

to  a  height  of 
14,501  feet.  Sev 
eral  of  the  neigh 
boring  peaks  are 
only  a  thousand 
or  so  feet  less 
high.  The  as 
cent  is  commonly 
made  from  the 
east  after  leaving 
the  railroad  at 
Lone  Pine.  Both 
the  highest  and 

ROAD  NEAR  KINGS  RIVER  CANYON  lowest    points    in 


California 


485 


BULLFROG  LAKE  AND  WEST  VIDETTE  MOUNTAIN 


the  United  States 
are  in  California 
only  a  short  dis 
tance  apart.  A 
few  miles  east  of 
the  mountain 
the  lowest  place 
is  a  spot  in 
Death  Valley, 
two  hundred  and 
seventy-six  feet 
below  the  level  of 
the  sea.  This 
valley,  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty 

miles  long  with  an  average  breadth  of  fifteen  miles,  ac 
quired  its  name  from  the  loss  of  numerous  emigrants  who 
attempted  to  pass  through  it  in  1849.  It  was  formerly  the 
bed  of  a  salt  lake.  Several  watercourses  enter  it  but  only 
contain  water  after  heavy  rains,  which  are  rare.  The  air  is  so 
dry  in  this  "  Valley  of  Burning  Silence  "  that  dew  never  forms. 
Sand  storms  and  dust  whirlwinds  are  common.  In  summer 
the  thermometer  sometimes  records  on  successive  days  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  degrees  in  the  shade.  The  valley 
was  the  scene  of  a  "borax  stampede"  in  1852,  and  pros 
pectors  went  crazy  from  the  heat  and  died  on  the  lonely  sands, 
and  there  their  bleaching  bones  were  found  later.  Borax 
exists  in  Death  Valley  in  inexhaustible  quantities,  and  is 
now  carried  away  by  railroad  from  Ludlow.  Formerly  it  was 
conveyed  by  the  well-advertised  twenty-mule  team,  which 
drew  a  wagon  with  a  capacity  of  ten  tons  across  the  blistering 
plains.  In  this  vicinity  is  San  Bernardino  County,  the  larg 
est  in  the  United  States.  It  has  an  area  two  and  one  half 
times  that  of  the  state  of  Massachusetts. 


486 


What  to  See  in  America 


SUMMIT  OF  MT.  WHITNEY 


Los  Angeles  came  into 
being  as  a  Mexican  settle 
ment  in  1781,  and  for 
scores  of  years  was  a  slov 
enly  quarrelsome  village 
with  scarcely  a  saving 
grace.  Education  began 
in  1790,  with  a  village 
school  whose  master  re 
ceived  one  hundred  and 
forty  dollars  a  year.  An 
American  force  entered 
the  city  August  13,  1846, 
and  raised  the  Stars  and 

Stripes.  The  frightened  inhabitants  had  fled  to  the  neigh 
boring  ranches,  but  returned  to  their  homes  before  night, 
attracted  by  the  irresistible  strains  of  a  brass  band.  A  gar 
rison  of  fifty  men  was  left  in  charge,  but  the  commander 
made  himself  unpopular  by  interfering  with  the  amusements 
of  the  people,  and  a  revolt  was  organized.  Then  a  Mexican 
general  with  three  hundred  men  appeared,  and  the  garrison 
surrendered  after  holding  the  place  less  than  two  months. 
A  reconquest  took  place  in  January.  One  of  the  first  things 
the  Americans  did  was  to  shorten  the  Spanish  name,  Pueblo 
de  la  Reina  de  los  Angeles  (Town  of  the  Queen  of  the  Angels) . 
By  1859  a  stage  line  was  in  operation  to  San  Diego,  and 
overland  stages  left  for  the  East  three  times  a  week.  There 
is  even  yet  a  straggling  Mexican  quarter  of  the  modern  city, 
and  on  the  outskirts  you  may  find  the  adobe  house,  and  the 
mud  hovel  thatched  with  straw.  Los  Angeles  claims  to  have 
more  automobiles  and  telephones  in  proportion  to  its  in 
habitants  than  any  other  American  city.  Its  population 
increased  in  thirty  years  from  11,000  in  1885  to  over  half 
a  million.  The  residential  section  is  noted  for  its  many 


California  487 

beautiful  mansions  embowered  in  semitropical  bloom  and 
verdure.  The  most  abundant  trees  in  the  streets  and  parks 
are  the  eucalyptus  from  Australia,  the  graceful  pepper  tree 
from  Peru,  and  palms,  native  and  foreign.  The  water 
supply  is  brought  by  means  of  the  longest  aqueduct  in  the 
world  across  the  desert  and  through  mountain  tunnels  a 
distance  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles.  In  the 
northern  part  of  the  city  is  a  belt  of  oil-producing  territory 
covering  an  area  of  two  square  miles.  Here  are  hundreds 
of  derricks  erected  in  close  proximity  to  dwellings.  Eight 
miles  west  of  the  city  are  asphalt  springs  which  contain 
wonderful  bone  deposits.  Such  springs  are  the  most  effective 
animal  trap  known,  and  the  asphalt  preserves  the  bones  of 
the  creatures  that 
are  caught  in  its  de 
ceptive  and  sticky 
pools.  Skeletons  of 
elephants,  camels, 
sloths,  condors, 
saber-toothed  tigers, 
and  many  other  ani 
mals  are  being  grad 
ually  dug  out  and 
set  up  in  a  museum. 
Among  the  bones  has 
been  found  the  skull 
of  a  human  being 
who  probably  lived 
not  less  than  10,000 
years  ago. 

Wonderful  crops 
are  raised  in  the  re 
gion  tributary  to  the 
city.  You  are  asked  DEVIL'S  POST  PILE,  SIERRA  FOREST 


488 


What  to  See  in  America 


to  believe  that  corn  sometimes  grows  to  a  height  of  twenty 
feet,  that  pumpkins  may  weigh  as  much  as  four  hundred 
pounds,  and  that  holes  from  which  beets  have  been  pulled 
are  of  a  size  sufficient  for  fence  posts.  Near  Whittier,  a 
few  miles  south,  is  a  pear  tree  which  has  grown  fruit  to  the 
value  of  $1500  in  a  single  year.  More  than  a  third  of  the 
state's  annual  crop  of  1,000,000  tons  of  sugar  beets  is  raised 
in  Los  Angeles  and  Orange  counties. 

A  short  distance  east  of  Los  Angeles,  toward  the  city's 
mountain  background,  is  the  Mission  Church  of  San  Gabriel, 

erected  after  the 
earthquake  of 
1812  had  shat 
tered  the  previ 
ous  structure. 
The  church  has 
never  been  dis 
used.  Seven 
thousand  Indians 
are  buried  in  its 
cemetery.  A  little 
to  the  north  of 
the  old  Mission  is 

Pasadena.  Key  of  the  Valley  and  Threshold  of  the  Moun 
tains,  the  Indians  called  its  site.  As  recently  as  1880  the 
plateau  here  was  a  sheep-run,  and  the  huts  of  the  herders 
were  the  only  habitations.  Now  it  is  a  city  of  country 
homes  wonderful  in  their  architecture,  flawless  lawns, 
abounding  flowers,  and  arboreal  streets.  The  most  impor 
tant  of  the  near  heights  is  Mt.  LowTe,  with  an  altitude  of 
over  6000  feet.  You  can  go  half  way  up  by  trolley  to  the 
Alpine  Tavern,  and  on  pony-back  the  rest  of  the  way  to 
the  summit. 

Fifty  miles  to  the  east  is  San  Bernardino,   which  was 


AN  OCEANSIDE  OIL  FIELD 


California 


489 


settled  in  1851  by  500  Mor 
mons.  They  paid  the  Mexi 
can  owners  of  the  land  $7500 
for  37,000  acres.  The  place 
has  an  agreeable  winter  cli 
mate,  but  blinding  and  stifling 
dust-storms  frequently  whirl 
through  Cajon  Pass  from  the 
Mojave  Desert.  At  the  base 
of  the  mountains,  seven  miles 
distant,  is  a  health  resort 
with  its  boiling  springs,  one 
of  which  has  a  temperature 
of  nearly  two  hundred  de 
grees  and  a  daily  flow  from 
the  rock  of  half  a  million  gal 
lons.  Numerous  important 
towns  have  grown  up  in  the 

region  adjacent  to  San  Bernardino.  One  of  them  is  Red- 
lands,  which  has  close  about  it  a  crescent  of  snow-mantled 
peaks,  some  of  which  are  more  than  two  miles  high,  over 
looking  an  Eden  of  matchless  fertility.  Bear  Valley,  Pine 

,  Lake,  and  numerous 
canyon  retreats  en 
tice  campers,  hunts 
men,  and  anglers. 

Somewhat  to  the 
southwest  is  River 
side,  which  has  been 
called  a  "  populated 
orange  grove."  Un 
wavering  lines  of  well- 
groomed,  round- 
topped  trees  spread 


MISSION  BELLS,  SAN  GABRIEL 


A  GLASS-BOTTOMED  BOAT,  SANTA  CATALINA 
ISLAND 


490 


What  to  See  in  America 


for  miles  over  a  tract 
that  was  barren  desert 
until  it  was  irrigated. 
At  Riverside  the  seed 
less  navel  orange 
was  introduced  in  the 
United  States.  Four 
young  seedless  trees 
that  had  been  brought 
from  Brazil  were  set 
out  here  in  1873,  and 
six  years  later  the  two 
trees  that  survived  be 
gan  to  bear.  These 
two  ancestral  trees, 
whose  progeny  produce 
by  far  the  larger  part 
of  the  state's  orange 
crop,  are  the  most  ven 
erated  monuments  of 
the  region.  Riverside 

has  a  park  which  contains  three  hundred  varieties  of  cacti. 
Magnolia  Avenue,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide,  and 
many  miles  long,  is  bordered  by  magnolias,  eucalypti,  and 
very  tall  fan  palms  with  hairy  trunks.  Before  sunrise  on 
Easter  morning  a  procession  leaves  the  town  to  ascend  the 
near-by  brusque  pyramidal  Mt.  Rubidoux,  on  the  summit 
of  which  is  a  cross  consecrated  in  1907.  Since  then  clergy 
of  varying  creeds  have  addressed  the  early  morning  multi 
tude  which  is  attracted  thither  each  Easter.  The  listeners 
gather  among  the  bowlders,  and  there,  on  the  isolated 
height,  the  preacher's  voice  is  lifted  in  the  stillness  of  ap 
proaching  day,  as  distant  snowy  crests  take  on  the  first 
glow  of  color. 


ARCHES  OF  THE  OLD  CAPISTRANO  MISSION 


California 


491 


Fifteen  rniles  west  of  Los  Angeles  is  the  ocean,  whose 
coast  is  lined  with  shore  resorts  for  a  long  distance,  and 
twenty-five  miles  out  in  the  sea  is  Catalina,  the  "Isle  of 
Summer."  In  the  middle  of  the  island  tower  the  peaks  of 
Black  Jack  and  Orizaba,  and  their  canyons  and  ridges  slope 
down  into  the  sea.  Avalon,  nestling  in  the  crescent  of  the 
widest  canyon's  mouth,  is  a  pleasure  resort  of  wooden  houses, 
shops,  and  hotels.  Visitors  find  enjoyment  in  the  splendid 
fishing,  in  observing  the  mysteries  of  the  sea  from  the  famous 
glass-bottom  boats,  in  walking  and  driving  among  the 
mountains,  in  hunting  the  wild  goats  on  the  cliffs,  and  in 
making  excursions  by  launch  to  Banning  Beach,  where  sea 
lions  sport  among  the  rocks.  A  tuna  taken  off  Avalon 
weighed  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  pounds,  the  record  for  a 
swordfish  is  three  hundred  and  thirty-nine  pounds  and  for 
a  black  sea  bass  four  hundred  and  thirty  pounds.  Eager 
boys  paddle  about  in  the  warm  water  ever  ready  to  follow 
down  to  the  floor  of  the  bay  |£3HH^H^^BBi^ 
coins  tossed  into  their  vicin 
ity,  and  they  will  bring  up 
in  return  any  shell  or  bit  of 
bright-colored  seaweed  you 
point  out. 

About  half  way  between 
Los  Angeles  and  San  Diego  is 
the  indolent  little  village  of 
Capistrano.  Those  who  dwell 
there  —  Indians,  Spaniards, 
and  a  few  Americans  —  tend 
sheep,  participate  in  cock 
fights,  and  spend  uncounted 
hours  moving  around  the 
buildings  to  keep  in  the  sun. 
On  the  borders  of  the  town  JOSHUA  TKEE 


492  What  to  See  in  America 

is  the  most  beautiful  ruin  in  the  Mission  chain.  The  church 
was  dedicated  in  1806.  A  half  dozen  years  later,  in  the 
midst  of  a  service,  an  earthquake  toppled  a  tower,  which 
crashed  through  the  chapel  roof  and  killed  forty-three  of  the 
congregation. 

Thirty  miles  farther  south,  and  four  miles  from  the  rail 
way  station  of  Oceanside,  is  the  Mission  of  San  Luis  Rey. 
This  "Queen  of  all  the  Missions"  once  ruled  a  realm  of  a 
quarter  of  a  million  acres,  and  40,000  head  of  cattle  browsed 
on  its  pastures.  The  church,  erected  in  1802,  has  been 
partially  rebuilt  in  recent  years,  and  guests  are  again  received 
graciously  at  the  monastery  door.  It  is  a  notable  example  of 
Moorish  architecture. 

In  1876  the  San  Diego  Mission,  which  was  on  a  hill  six 
miles  from  the  present  city,  suffered  from  an  appalling  mas 
sacre  by  the  Indians.  The  present  Mission  ruins  are  those 
of  buildings  erected  after  1803.  The  first  Mission  was  at 
what  is  now  called  Old  Town.  This  place  was  the  home  of 
Ramona,  the  heroine  of  a  much-read  novel,  and  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  distant  is  the  chapel  where  she  was  married. 
Beyond  Old  Town  is  the  wave-hewn  shore  of  La  Jolla, 
where  the  tide  sweeps  into  vaulted  caverns  scooped  in  the 
deep-tinted  cliffs,  and  red  seaweeds  trail  through  phosphores 
cent  waters  that  teem  with  scurrying  creatures.  The  most 
out  jutting  piece  of  land  on  the  coast  is  Point  Loma  on  which 
is  the  Tent  City  of  the  International  Theosophical  Society 
with  its  turreted  and  domed  Headquarters  Building,  Music 
Pavilion,  and  Greek  Temple.  Across  the  outlet  of  the  bay 
from  Point  Loma  is  the  long  narrow  strand  of  Coronado 
Beach,  where  all  sorts  of  seaside  pleasures  are  to  be  had. 
Six  miles  from  San  Diego,  around  Chula  Vista,  are  many 
square  miles  of  irrigated  lemon  groves. 

About  fifty  miles  northeast,  the  Mesa  Grande  Indians 
have  a  village.  They  are  remarkably  skilled  in  basketry 


California 


493 


494  \Vhat  to  See  in  America 

and  wood  carving.  On  the  evening  of  All  Souls'  Day, 
November  1,  the  ceremony  of  candle  lighting  takes  place 
in  the  Indian  graveyard  near  the  chapel.  Tapers  are  placed 
on  the  mounds  of  the  dead,  and  the  company  wails  and 
chants  around  a  great  cross  to  the  tolling  of  bells. 

Not  far  beyond  the  eastern  boundary  of  San  Diego  County 
is  the  famous  Imperial  Valley.  In  1901  no  whites  and  very 
few  Indians  lived  in  the  desert  waste  west  of.  the  Colorado 
River.  But  three  years  later  70,000  acres  of  irrigated  lands 
were  under  cultivation,  and  had  drawn  10,000  people  to  the 
vicinity. 


BEAUTIFUL  LAKE  TAHOE 


XLVIII 
Nevada 

Nevada  is  a  Spanish  name  which  signifies  snow-clad,  and 
refers  to  the  snow-covered  mountains  along  the  western 
border  of  the  state.  As  a  whole,  Nevada  is  an  elevated 
plateau,  and  it  is  the  most  arid  state  in  the  Union.  About 
four  per  cent  of  it  is  in  farms,  and  yet  little  more  than  one 
per  cent  is  improved  land.  Nevada  was  once  nearly  all  a 
desolate  wilderness,  but  railroads,  the  development  of  mineral 
resources,  irrigation,  and  dry  farming  have  given  it  a  new 
character.  There  are  still  large  areas  destitute  of  water  and 
vegetation  that  never  can  be  reclaimed.  However,  much 
of  the  arid  region  is  utilized  for  grazing  purposes,  and  some 
of  the  ranches  devoted  to  grazing  are  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  thousand  acres  in  extent.  Nine  tenths  of  the 
farms  are  irrigated.  The  most  important  event  in  the 
history  of  the  state  was  the  building  of  a  great  irrigation 

495 


496 


What  to  See  in  America 


dam  on  the  Truckee  River  which  will  furnish  water  for 
200,000  acres  of  desert.  The  population  of  the  state  in  1860 
was  less  than  7000.  Now  it  is  about  100,000,  which  means 
there  is  less  than  one  person  on  each  one  and  a  half  square 
miles.  The  rapid  radiation,  due  to  the  dry  air,  cloudless 
skies,  and  high  altitudes,  makes  the  nights  cool  even  after 
the  hottest  summer  days.  In  the  winter  the  temperature 
may  fall  below  zero  at  night,  yet  it  rarely  fails  to  rise  above 
freezing  during  the  day. 

The  history  of  Nevada  is  chiefly  the  history  of  the  mines. 
Periods  of  activity  and  prosperity  have  alternated  with 
periods  of  depression.  Each  discovery  of  high-grade  ore 
in  noteworthy  quantity  has  been  followed  by  rapid  settlement 
in  that  locality,  and  the  establishment  of  one  or  more  towns. 
Exhaustion  of  the  richest  and  most  accessible  ores  or  the 
bursting  of  over-inflated  speculative  bubbles  has  resulted  in 
at  least  local  stagnation  and  depopulation.  Nevada's  mining 
districts  number  about  two  hundred  and  are  widely  dis 
tributed  over  its  area.  Almost  every  one  of  the  larger 
mountain  ranges  contains  some  ore. 

Trappers  began  to  ply  their  trade  in  Nevada  about  1825, 
but  no  settlement  was  made  until  1849.  Then  the  Mormons 
founded  a  trading  post  in  the  valley  of  the  Carson  River 

near  the  present 
town  of  Genoa 
to  sell  supplies  to 
gold  seekers  on 
their  way  to  Cali 
fornia.  In  1861 
Nevada  became 
a  territory,  and 
the  next  year  the 
legislature  took 
AN  ELKO  COUNTY  VALLEY  action  looking  to 


Nevada 


497 


A  PROSPECTOR,  MT.  DAVIDSON 


the  establishment  of  the  state 
of  Washoe.  It  was  admitted 
to  the  Union  in  1864.  Along 
the  dividing  line  between 
Nevada  and  California,  and 
extending  down  into  Arizona, 
is  one  of  the  richest  mineral 
belts  in  the  world,  and  on  this 
Nevada  is  peculiarly  depend 
ent.  At  one  time  Nevada 
produced  more  gold  than  any 
other  state,  and  more  silver 
than  all  the  other  states  put 
together.  Even  now  it  ranks 
first  in  the  production  of 
silver. 

In  1850  a  couple  of  land  viewers  killed  a  bear  in  the  Carson 
Valley.  They  were  preparing  to  skin  it  when  one  of  them 
stuck  his  knife  into  a  crevice  in  a  rock  and  uncovered  a  small 
nugget  of  gold.  They  called  the  gulch  "Gold  Canyon." 
During  the  next  half  dozen  years  thousands  of  miners  were 
drawn  thither  from  the  California  fields.  A  little  stream  in 
the  canyon  had  its  source  far  up  on  the  slopes  of  Mt.  David 
son.  Prospectors  worked  up  the  stream  and  into  the  cross 
gulches,  finding  much  treasure.  Often  they  dug  into  a 
peculiar  hard  blue  clay  on  which  they  bestowed  many  lurid 
adjectives.  For  half  a  dozen  years  the  prospectors  formed 
their  camps  about  the  mountain  searching  the  region  for  gold, 
and  making  enough  finds  to  keep  up  the  excitement.  One 
day  a  farmer  from  a  distant  ranch  came  into  Virginia  City 
with  a  load  of  supplies.  He  knew  nothing  of  ores  or  minerals, 
but  he  picked  up  a  lump  of  the  curious  blue  clay  and  sent 
it  to  a  friend  in  San  Francisco  who  was  an  assay er.  The 
assay  showed  that  the  clay  contained  $1595  in  gold  and 
2* 


498 


What  to  See  in  America 


MlLL    AT    GOLDFIELD 


$4791  in  silver  to  the 
ton.  San  Francisco 
men  of  capital  hur 
ried  to  Virginia  City 
and  bought  up  all 
the  cheap  abandoned 
claims  they  could  se 
cure.  Tunnels  were 
driven  and  shafts 
sunk,  and  the  great 

Comstock  Lode  was  at  last  revealed  —  the  lode  that  made 
multi-millionaires  of  the  "Big  Four"  Californians,  Fair, 
Mackay,  Flood,  and  O'Brien,  and  the  fortunes  of  a  score 
of  others.  The  lode  is  about  four  miles  in  length,  and  in 
creases  in  width  from  nothing  at  the  ends  to  3000  feet  in 
the  middle.  The  ore  contains  gold  and  silver  in  the  pro 
portion  of  two  of  the  former  to  three  of  the  latter.  These 
metals  occur  in  great  pockets  known  as  bonanzas.  Virginia 
City,  though  in  the  midst  of  a  desert,  grew  to  be  a  thriv 
ing  place  with  a  population  of  30,000.  To-day  there  are 
less  than  one  tenth  that  many,  and  dilapidation  and  ruin 
are  seen  on  every  hand.  Mark  Twain  began  his  literary 
career  in  the  old  mining  camp  as  a  reporter  on  a  local  paper, 
and  there  he  got  much  material  for  his  book  "Roughing 
It." 

In  1900  rich  deposits  of  gold  and  silver  were  discovered  a 
hundred  miles  southeast  of  Virginia  City,  and  the  village  of 
Tonopah  leaped  into  existence.  The  place  was  in  the  very 
heart  of  a  desert,  where  springs  were  thirty  or  forty  miles 
apart,  and  nothing  grew  except  sagebrush,  cactus,  and 
mesquite.  But  in  two  years  it  had  four  thousand  inhab 
itants  and  a  water  system,  was  lighted  by  electricity, 
and  a  railroad  had  crawled  to  it  over  the  desert.  About 
that  time  a  second  big  strike  was  made  thirty  miles  to 


Nevada 


499 


the  south,  and  Goldfield  was  put  on  the  map.  Prospectors 
kept  roaming  about  the  region,  and  sixty  miles  beyond  Gold- 
field  discovered  the  Bullfrog  district,  which  was  soon  linked 
with  the  railroad  by  a  line  of  automobiles,  daily  stages,  and 
toiling  trains  of  freighters'  wagons. 

Carson  is  the  capital  of  Nevada,  and  is  a  real  curiosity, 
it  is  such  a  half-wild  and  tiny  hamlet  for  a  state  capital. 
The  place  has  about  2500  people.  The  famous  divorce 
town  of  Reno  is  the  largest  place  in  the  state. 

On  the  boundary  line  between  Nevada  and  California  is 
Lake  Tahoe,  some  twenty  miles  long  and  twelve  broad, 
surrounded  by  forests  and  snow-capped  mountains.  It  is 
more  than  a  mile  above  sea  level,  and  is  marvelously  deep 
and  crystal  clear.  There  are  many  lesser  lakes  in  the 
vicinity,  and  foaming  cascades  and  good  hunting  and 
fishing.  The  region  is  at 
its  best  in  the  late  sum 
mer  and  autumn.  One 
can  judge  of  the  virtues 
of  the  lake  from  the  fact 
that  Mark  Twain,  who 
spent  some  time  on  its 
shores,  says,  "Three 
months  of  camp  life  on 
Lake  Tahoe  would  restore 
an  Egyptain  mummy  to 
his  pristine  vigor,  and 
give  him  an  appetite  like 
an  alligator."  Capt.  Dick, 
an  eccentric  old  English 
mariner,  chose  this  wild 
mountain  retreat  for  his 
home,  built  a  cabin,  and 

Chiseled  OUt  a  tomb  in  the          A  STREET  ix  CARSON,  THE  CAPITAL 


500  What  to  See  in  America 

solid  rock  on  a  lonely  craggy  island.  But  he  fell  out  of  his 
boat  while  intoxicated,  and  the  lake,  which  is  said  never 
to  yield  up  its  dead,  became  his  last  resting  place.  The 
lake  can  be  visited  from  Carson  around  the  south  and  east 
sides,  or  from  the  north  by  way  of  the  quaint  California 
mountain  town  of  Truckee. 

Nevada's  loftiest  height  is  East  Peak  in  the  White  Moun 
tains,  with  an  altitude  of  13,145  feet,  west  of  Tonopah  on 
the  boundary  line.  The  popular  name  for  Nevada  is  the 
"Sagebrush  State,"  and  the  nickname  for  its  people  is 
"Sage  Hens." 


THE  MOUTH  or  THE  COLUMBIA 

XLIX 

Oregon 

In  1805  the  Columbia  bore  the  canoes  of  Lewis  and  Clark, 
the  first  transcontinental  explorers,  from  the  slopes  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  the  sea.  The  next  year,  after  spending 
the  winter  south  of  the  river's  mouth,  they  went  back  up  it, 
and  down  the  Missouri  to  St.  Louis.  Their  report  aroused 
great  interest,  but  there  was  much  opposition  to  holding  the 
"  western  wilderness"  in  the  Union.  A  United  States  senator 
from  New  Jersey  declared  in  1825  that  never  should  the 
territory  of  Oregon  become  a  state,  and  went  on  to  say  that 
a  member  of  Congress  would  be  obliged  to  journey  9300 
miles  in  coming  to  the  scat  of  government  and  returning. 
If  he  traveled  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  a  day,  the  time 
required,  after  allowing  Sundays  for  rest,  would  be  three 
hundred  and  fifty  days.  This  would  allow  only  a  fortnight 
at  Washington.  In  the  same  year  Senator  Benton  of 
Missouri  said :  "  The  ridge  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  may 
be  named  as  a  convenient,  natural,  and  everlasting  boundary. 
Along  this  ridge  the  western  limits  of  the  republic  should  be 
drawn."  Up  to  1845  the  United  States  Government  never, 
by  an  official  act,  aided  or  attempted  to  control  Oregon. 
Our  statesmen  regarded  our  domain  as  already  vaster  than 

501 


502  What  to  See  in  America 

was  necessary.  "  What  do  we  want  with  Oregon  ? ' '  Senator 
Winthrop  of  Massachusetts  asked  in  one  of  his  speeches. 
"We  will  not  need  elbow  room  for  a  thousand  years." 

A  South  Carolina  senator  declared,  "The  whole  of  Oregon 
is  not  worth  a  pinch  of  snuff."  Daniel  Webster  was  of  the 
same  opinion.  "Oregon  is  a  vast  worthless  region  of 
savages,  wild  beasts,  deserts  of  shifting  sands,  and  prairie 
dogs,"  he  said.  "What  use  have  we  for  such  a  country ?" 

In  1811  John  Jacob  Astor's  Pacific  Fur  Company  founded 
a  trading  post  a  few  miles  from  the  sea  up  the  Columbia, 
and  called  this  earliest  of  American  settlements  on  the  coast 
Astoria.  A  fort,  a  stone  mansion,  and  other  buildings  were 
erected.  The  Tonquin,  which  brought  the  settlers,  sailed 
up  the  coast  to  Vancouver  Island,  where  it  was  attacked  one 
day  by  Indians.  The  savages  were  only  driven  off  after 
all  but  five  of  the  whites  had  been  killed.  When  night  came, 
four  of  the  survivors  went  away  in  a  boat,  for  they  expected 
the  attack  to  be  renewed,  and  a  shoreward  breeze  prevented 
their  escaping  with  the  ship.  The  fifth  man  was  seriously 
wounded,  and  he  remained.  In  the  morning,  after  enticing 

a  crowd  of  sav 
ages  on  board, 
he  set  fire  to  the 
magazine  and 
had  his  revenge 
by  blowing  up 
the  ship  and  des 
troying  many 
of  the  Indians, 
though  he  per 
ished  also.  The 
four  fugitives 

Photo  by  Gifford  and  Prenttss       W  C 1*  C    Captured 
SEA-GOING  RAFT,  6,000,000  FEET  OF  LUMBER          and  put  to  death 


Oregon 


503 


A  SALMON  WHEEL 


with  barbaric 
tortures,  but  a 
native  inter 
preter  who  had 
been  on  board 
the  ship  got 
away  to  Astoria 
with  news  of  the 
disaster.  Pros 
pects  were  very 
gloomy.  The 
local  Indians 
were  suspected 

of  plotting  against  the  post,  and  the  man  in  charge  assembled 
several  of  the  chieftains,  held  up  a  small  bottle  before  their 
eyes,  and  announced  that  in  it  was  the  smallpox  safely 
corked  up.  He  threatened  to  withdraw  the  cork  and  let 
loose  the  pestilence  if  they  were  unfriendly.  Thus  he 
aroused  their  fear,  and  they  called  him  the  "  Great  Smallpox 
Chief." 

Astoria  no  longer  is  interested  in  peltry.  Its  fortunes 
now  are  founded  on  fish.  There  are  2000  vessels  in  its 
fleet.  The  salmon  fisheries  are  the  most  valuable  in  the 
world  except  those  of  the  oyster  and  herring.  By  far  the 
largest  salmon  fisheries  are  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  North 
America.  No  other  river  has  contributed  as  many  salmon 
as  the  Columbia,  and  Astoria  is  the  chief  center  of  the 
industry.  They  are  caught  in  nets  of  various  kinds,  and 
also  in  the  salmon  wheels  which  may  be  seen  at  many  points 
along  the  riverside.  By  means  of  these  wheels,  which  are 
kept  in  motion  by  the  current,  the  fish  are  automatically 
scooped  up  and  thrown  into  a  tank.  The  cans  alone  used 
for  packing  the  annual  catch  in  the  river  cost  over  a  third 
of  a  million  dollars. 


504 


What  to  See  in  America 


Captain  Gray,  a  New  England  skipper,  discovered  the 
river  in  1792.  He  sailed  up  to  where  Astoria  now  is,  raised 
the  American  flag,  and  took  possession  of  the  region  in  the 
name  of  the  United  States.  His  staunch  vessel,  the  Columbia, 
furnished  the  river  its  name.  Ocean  going  ships  of  the 
deepest  draft  can  navigate  the  river  for  more  than  a  hundred 
miles,  and  it  is  the  main  artery  of  water  traffic  for  a  region 
which  is  imperial  in  its  size  and  its  resources.  Thirty  miles 
above  its  mouth  it  is  six  miles  wide,  and  near  where  it 
joins  the  sea  it  broadens  to  seventeen  miles.  No  wonder 
then  that  the  early  navigators  mistook  it  for  a  great  bay  of 
the  ocean ! 

For  a  long  time  Great  Britain  claimed  that  the  Columbia 
should  be  the  dividing  line  between  western  Canada  and  the 
United  States,  but  in  1846  it  was  definitely  agreed  that  the 
disputed  boundary  should  frtllow  the  forty-ninth  parallel. 


SALMON  IN  NET 

An  important  tributary  of  the  lower  Columbia  i$  the 
Willamette,  wrhich  flows  northerly  and  joins  the  greater  river 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  the  Pacific.  In  the 
Willamette  Valley  flowers  and  strawberries  are  picked  nearly 
every  month  of  the  twelve,  and  sweet  peas  live  through  the 
winter  and  blossom  anew  in  May.  Tales  are  told  of  a  hun- 


Oregon 


505 


TROLLING  FOR  SALMON,  WILLAMETTE  FALLS 


dred  cherries,  some  of  them  an  inch  in  diameter,  growing  on  a 
single  twig,  of  nine-pound  carrots,  and  parsnips  five  feet 
long.  The  valley  boasts  of  a  greater  variety  and  number  of 
game  birds  than  any  other  region  in  the  United  States. 

One  autumn  evening  in  1843  two  men  landed  from  a  canoe 
and  pitched  their  tent  for  the  night  under  the  pine  trees 
on  the  west  bank 
of  the  Willa 
mette,  ten  miles 
from  where  it 
makes  a  junction 
with  the  Colum 
bia.  On  the  site  ""^p  ^j ||it>r v <r ;|L 
of  their  encamp 
ment  they  pro 
jected  a  town, 
and  within  a  few 
months  a  clearing  was  made  and  a  log  cabin  built.  About  a 
year  later  the  first  store  began  to  do  business,  and  the  little 
settlement,  which  hitherto  had  been  known  as  "the  village," 
or  "Stumptown,"  was  now  dignified  with  the  name  of  Port 
land.  This  matter  of  a  name  was  settled  by  the  two  partners 
in  the  store  enterprise.  They  were  New  Englanders.  One 
was  from  Boston,  the  other  from  Portland,  Maine,  and  each 
wanted  the  town  to  bear  the  name  of  his  home  place  in  the 
East.  They  agreed  to  let  the  verdict  of  a  tossed  coin  decide 
the  name  of  the  future  metropolis—  "Heads  for  Boston, 
and  tails  for  Portland"  —and  tails  won.  The  discovery 
of  gold  in  California  caused  such  a  stampede  from  Oregon 
that  Portland  at  one  time  contained  only  three  adult  men. 
As  late  as  1860  it  had  no  more  than  2000  people.  Now  it  is 
the  largest  city  in  Oregon,  and  one  of  the  greatest  in  the 
entire  West.  Fleets  sail  from  its  harbor  to  all  the  world, 
carrying  lumber,  wheat,  wool,  and  fish.  It  claims  to  be  a  city 


506 


What  to  See  in  America 


without  a  shabby  quar 
ter,  wholly  fair,  sane, 
and  charming.  On  the 
slopes  above  the  busi 
ness  section  are  streets 
of  beautiful  homes  and 
schools,  and  crowning 
all  is  the  Crest,  where 
the  braves  of  old  held 
their  councils.  At 
Third  and  Taylor 
Streets  a  tall  steepled 
edifice  stands  on  the 
spot  where  the  Metho 
dists  erected  in  1847 
Portland's  plain  little 
first  church  among  the 
blackened  stumps  and 
logs  of  a  partially 

cleared  wilderness.  One  of  the  city's  attractions  that  has 
an  unusual  individuality  is  a  Forestry  Building,  fifteen 
minutes'  ride  from  the  business  center.  This  "log  palace" 
is  constructed  of  timbers  from  five  to  six  feet  in  diameter. 
Some  of  them  weigh  thirty-two  tons  and  contain  enough 
lumber  "to  build  a  small  cottage,  fence  it  in,  and  lay  a  walk 
to  its  door."  The  interior  of  this  sylvan  palace  is  a  shadowy 
Hall  of  Giants,  where  the  trees  in  their  rough  coats  serve  as 
pillars  to  support  the  lofty  roof.  The  trees  were  cut  seventy- 
five  miles  from  Portland  on  the  Columbia,  down  which  they 
were  floated.  The  city  is  famous  for  its  roses,  particularly  in 
early  summer  and  in  October.  In  texture,  tint,  fragrance, 
and  size  the  varieties  grown  in  this  section  are  superior  to 
those  of  England,  France,  or  California.  A  hundred  miles 
of  rose  bushes  border  the  city's  sidewalks.  An  eight-year- 


A  VILLAGE  IN  THE  COLUMBIA  VALLEY 


Oregon 


507 


old  climber  has  borne  5000  golden  blossoms  at  one  time. 
Seven  hundred  kinds  of  roses  are  displayed  at  Peninsula 
Park  in  a  picturesque  sunken  garden.  For  a  half  week  each 
June  Portland  has  a  Rose  Festival.  From  Kings  Heights  are 
to  be  had  wide  views  easterly  that  in  clear  weather  include 
the  snowy  peaks  of  mountains  on  the  horizon.  From  the 
Portland  hills  can  be  seen  five  of  these  white-crowned  peaks, 
the  best  beloved  of  which  to  Oregonians  is  Mt.  Hood,  the 
loftiest  height  in  the  state.  It  has  an  altitude  of  11,225  feet. 

On  Swan  Island,  a  short  distance  from  Portland  up  the 
Willamette,  a  Frenchman  cleared  the  first  Oregon  farm  in 
1829.  Ten  miles  farther  up  the  river  is  Oregon  City,  with  its 
"Great  Falls,"  formed  by  the  water  leaping  in  numerous 
cascades  down  a  total  descent  of  forty  feet.  Many  big  mills 
congregate  .about  the  falls  now.  Just  below  the  falls  is  a 
favorite  resort  for  fishermen  to  test  their  skill  with  the  line 
when  the  chinook  salmon  are  running  upstream  in  the  late 
spring.  Sometimes  more  than  a  hundred  rowboats  of  the 
anglers  can  be  seen  there,  capturing  the  gleaming  salmon  that 
weigh  from  twenty  to  sixty-five  pounds.  Another  important 
place  beside  the 
Willamette  is 
Salem,  the  cap 
ital  of  the  state, 
settled  in  1834. 

To  see  the 
Columbia  at  its 
best  you  should 
journey  from 
Portland  to  the 
Dalles,  a  dis 
tance  of  nearly 
one  hundred 

miles.    The   rail-  TUNNEL  ON  COLUMBIA  RIVER  HIGHWAY 


508 


What  to  See  in  America 


road  is  close  to  the  shore  much  of  the  way,  and  the  views 
from  the  car  window  are  quite  entrancing,  but  only  from  the 

river  steamer  do  you  get  the 
full  beauty  of  the  scenes.  As 
you  go  up  the  river  the  valley 
is  at  first  broad  and  pastoral, 
a  succession  of  billowy  hills 
with  their  farms  and  forest, 
their  scattered  homes  and 
grazing  lands.  Gradually  the 
hills  lift  into  wooded  bluffs, 
and  you  at  times  find  rocky 
precipices  rising  from  the 
water's  edge,  or  lonely  pin 
nacles  like  monster  monu 
ments.  The  stream  resembles 
the  most  romantic  portions 
of  the  Hudson,  but  it  is  an 
untamed  river  of  the  wilder 
ness  with  a  vigor  and  a  charm 
all  its  own.  Willows  and  cot- 
tonwoods  fringe  the  shores, 
but  the  crags  and  slopes  are 
almost  solidly  clothed  with 
evergreens.  The  part  of  the 
river  that  has  the  most  scenic 
attraction  is  the  fifty-mile 
gorge  through  the  Cascade 
Mountains.  The  western  gate 
of  the  gorge  is  twenty-two 
miles  from  Portland.  Rooster 
Rock  near  Crown  Point,  and 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules  three 
MULTNOMAH  FALLS  miles  above,  are  particularly 


Oregon 


509 


HORN  AND  CIGAR  ROCK 


noteworthy  examples  of 
Nature's  chiseling.  The 
most  glorious  of  the  cata 
racts  that  come  tumbling 
down  from  the  adjacent 
heights  is  Multnomah, 
which  plunges  over  a  cliff 
six  hundred  and  seven  feet 
high  into  a  resounding  pool, 
and  then  makes  a  second 
leap  of  sixty-seven  feet  to 
the  river  shore.  Passenger 
trains  on  the  adjacent  rail 
road  slow  down  to  give  the 
people  in  the  cars  a  good 
view  of  the  falls.  The  Col 
umbia  itself  descends  fifty 
feet  within  a  half  mile  at  the  Cascades.  Navigation  was 
halted  here  by  the  ledges  and  bowlders  over  which  the  water 
froths  until  1896,  when  the  government  spent  several  million 
dollars  to  build  a  canal  and  locks.  On  either  side  the  moun 
tains  tower  into  the  sky  in  stony  terraces  and  shattered 
cliffs,  calm  and  majestic  guardians  of  the  vale.  According 
to  an  Indian  legend,  the  river  formerly  was  spanned  here 
by  a  mighty  natural  bridge,  beneath  which  the  water  flowed 
smoothly  in  an  unbroken  channel.  At  one  time  there  lived 
on  the  Oregon  side  a  young  brave  whom  the  gods  regarded 
with  much  favor.  While  hunting  on  the  Washington  side 
he  met  and  fell  in  love  with  an  Indian  maiden  of  a  neigh 
boring  tribe.  Presently  she  agreed  to  be  his  wife,  and  they 
started  for  his  home.  Disappointed  suitors  and  others  of 
the  maiden's  tribe  pursued  them,  but  the  two  crossed  the 
bridge  safely,  and  then,  just  as  they  reached  the  Oregon 
side,  they  were  startled  by  a  tremendous  crash.  They  looked 


510 


What  to  See  in  America 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  MT.  HOOD 

back  and  saw  that  the  great  bridge  had  fallen,  carrying  their 
wrathful  pursuers  to  death  and  obstructing  the  river  with 
impassable  rapids.  Thus  the  gods  showed  their  love  for 
the  young  brave. 

Not  far  above  the  Cascades  the  Hood  River  joins  the 
Columbia,  and  you  can  go  up  the  former  by  rail  twenty-two 
miles  toward  the  base  of  Mt.  Hood.  Thence  a  road  ascends 
through  the  Valley  of  Orchards  to  Cloud  Cap  Inn  at  the  snow 
line  6000  feet  above  the  sea.  The  heat  in  the  valley  may 
be  intense,  but  on  the  upper  slopes  the  air  blowing  from  acres 
of  s.now  brings  refreshment.  Another  5000  feet  must  be 
climbed  over  expanses  of  rock  and  snow  and  glacier  trails  to 
gain  the  mountain's  summit,  but  the  task  is  not  seriously 
arduous.  The  lower  and  upper  valleys  are  the  veritable 
home  of  the  Big  Red  Oregon  Apple.  The  regiments  of  sym 
metrically  pruned  trees  in  the  far-famed  irrigated  orchards 
sometimes  yield  as  much  as  $1200  gross  per  acre.  A  growers' 


Oregon 


511 


association,  which  has  its  own  storehouse  and   ice  plant, 
markets  the  annual  harvest. 

Seven  miles  beyond  the  mouth  of  Hood  River  is  the  long 
lava  Isle  of  Sepulture  to  which  the  Indians  for  unnumbered 
years  brought  their  dead  for  burial,  even  though  this  required 
many  weary  miles  of  travel.  At  the  eastern  end  of  the 
Columbia  gorge  is  the  Dalles,  a  name  of  French  origin  which 
means  a  trough.  The  river  reaches  this  point  after  a  journey 
of  1200  miles,  carrying  an  immense  amount  of  water,  and 
is  suddenly  compelled  to  make  its  way  through  a  volcanic 
gorge  only  a  hundred 
yards  wide  and  about 
a  dozen  miles  long. 
Since  1915  a  govern 
ment  canal  has  en 
abled  vessels  to  go 
around  this  torren 
tial  gully.  From  the 
Dalles  a  railroad 
runs  south  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty  miles 
up  the  Deschutes 
Valley.  Deschutes 
means  River  of  Falls, 
and  the  stream  is 
very  tumultuous. 
Much  of  the  distance 
it  flows  through  what 
is  called  the  Grand 
Canyon,  whose  bor 
dering  cliffs  are 
ribbed  and  bright- 
colored  and  almost 
perpendicular.  FRUITLANDS  IN  THE  HOOD  RIVER  VALLEY 


512  What  to  See  in  America 

In  the  region  drained  by  the  Columbia  River  is  the  greatest 
lava  field  in  North  America.  It  covers  the  eastern  two  thirds 
of  Oregon,  a  large  part  of  Washington  and  Idaho,  and  good- 
sized  portions  of  California  and  Nevada.  The  molten  lava 
was  forced  up  through  great  fissures  in  the  crust  of  the  earth 
in  many  individual  flows,  which  in  places  are  not  less  than 
4000  feet  in  thickness.  For  the  most  part  the  lava  plains 
are  mantled  with  a  yellowish  dustlike  soil  which  possesses 
exceptional  fertility  and  only  needs  irrigation  to  make  it 
very  productive. 

One  town  in  eastern  Oregon  of  special  interest  to  the 
traveler  is  Pendleton,  where  there  is  an  annual  September 
exhibition  of  cowboy  feats  and  races.  As  the  round-up 
date  approaches  you  may  see  on  the  town  streets  an  in 
creasing  number  of  men  in  the  costume  of  the  range,  strings 
of  dappled  ranch  horses,  free-riding  Indians,  and  their 
muffled  squaws.  The  stadium  where  the  spectacle  is  staged 
occupies  several  acres  and  has  grandstands  which  seat  tens 
of  thousands  of  spectators.  This  three-day  frontier  carnival 
has  a  national  reputation.  It  closes  with  the  wild  horse  race, 
for  which  unbroken  range  horses,  ignorant  of  "leather,"  are 
furnished  by  the  management.  The  festival  is  a  page  out  of 
history  —  a  scene  from  the  vanishing  West  —  and  there  are 
abundant  thrills  and  reminders  of  the  time  when  Pendleton 
was  the  "woolliest"  of  all  the  settlements  in  the  Northwest. 

At  Hot  Lake,  sixty  miles  to  the  southeast,  is  a  spring  of 
almost  boiling  water  which  issues  from  the  base  of  an 
eminence  seven  hundred  feet  high  and  pours  more  than  a 
million  gallons  daily  into  the  lake.  The  temperature  is 
one  hundred  and  ninety-six  degrees,  and  this  is  the  hottest 
natural  spring  known.  Hot  Lake  Springs  were  the  red 
men's  sanatorium. 

Wheat  is  one  of  Oregon's  principal  crops,  and  most  of  it 
is  raised  by  dry  farming  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state. 


Oregon 


513 


The  southeasternmost 
of  Oregon's  counties  is 
noteworthy  because  of  its 
great  size.  It  contains  a 
tenth  of  the  state's  area, 
and  is  larger  than  Mas 
sachusetts.  Nearly  half 
of  it  is  still  unappropri 
ated  public  lands. 

Lake  County,  on  the 
middle  southern  border 
of  the  state,  is  a  region 
of  scenic  curiosities.  At 
one  spot  is  a  cluster  of 
springs,  the  largest  of 
which  flowrs  from  an  ap 
erture  nearly  two  hun 
dred  feet  across.  They 
form  the  Anna  River, 

which  winds  through  the  plains  and  enters  the  north  end  of 

Summer  Lake.     Fossilized  remains  of  the  three-toed  horse, 

the   mastodon,   and   other   extinct   creatures   of   the   early 

geological  periods 

are  found  in  the    "  .          Af 

vast   plains   that 

once    were    lake 

beds.     In    the 

heavy   forests  of 

the    mountain 

ranges   are   bear, 

deer,  cougar,  and 

wild  cat.     There 

are    more    bear 

here  than  in   any  HUCKLEBERRY  LAKE 

2L 


^GLACIER  ON  MT.  HOOD 


514 


What  to  See  in  America 


other  part  of  the  Union, 
due  partly  to  the  abun 
dant  berries  that  grow 
on  the  mountains.  Hun 
dreds  of  hunters  resort 
to  the  county  from 
California  and  Nevada 
every  year  for  big  game 
and  the  fine  fishing.  In 
some  of  the  lakes  are 
pelican,  swan,  and  other 
rare  fowls.  Steamboats 
and  launches  ply  Goose 
Lake,  which  has  an  al 
titude  of  4700  feet.  The 
buttes  in  the  open  coun 
try  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  county  are  often 
exceedingly  fantastic 
and  massive.  One  of 

the  best  known  is  an  ancient  crater  that  rises  several  hun 
dred  feet  above  the  level  plains  and  is  called  Fort  Rock.  Its 
steep  walls  are  so  nearly  perfect  as  to  give  the  giant  emi 
nence  the  aspect  of  a  great  fortification. 

In  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  state,  near  the  boundary 
line,  are  the  Josephine  County  Caves.  They  are  so  concealed 
among  a  group  of  rough  and  lofty  peaks  that  even  the  forest- 
roaming  savages  knew  nothing  of  them.  Only  the  wild 
creatures  had  found  them.  About  1880  a  bear,  pursued  by 
a  youthful  hunter,  betrayed  the  entrance  to  the  amazing 
passages  and  halls,  pendent  with  calcium  gems,  pillared  in 
alabaster,  and  tapestried  in  crystal.  This  gorgeous  palace 
of  the  bears  belongs  to  the  nation,  and  a  government  guide 
is  on  duty  there  every  weekday  afternoon  from  June  15  to 


LLAO  ROCK,  CRATER  LAKE 


Oregon 


515 


October  1.  The  aisles  and  chambers  are  in  tiers  that  go 
down  to  a  depth  of  many  hundred  feet.  Each  year  new 
thoroughfares  are  discovered,  and  the  caves  are  probably 
among  the  most  extensive  in  the  world. 

Much  gold  has  been  taken  from  southern  Oregon,  and 
the  wild  days  of  the  early  mining  camps  are  recalled  by  such 
place  names  as  Whisky,  John  Mule,  Pistol  River,  and 
Jump-Off-Joe  Creek.  Another  suggestive  name  of  the 
vicinity  is  that  of  the  Rogue  River.  Originally  the  French 
called  it  Rouge,  which  means  red,  but  later  settlers  and 
miners,  many  of  whom  were  robbed  and  slaughtered  by  the 
Indian,  shifted  two  of  the  letters  to  make  it  the  Rogue 
because  of  the  treachery  that  lurked  on  its  banks.  Ashland, 
which  overlooks  this  river's  fertile  prosperous  valley  from 
a  neighboring  upland,  has  a  notable  galaxy  of  mineral  springs 
—  hot  and  cold — -and  of  soda,  lithia,  and  sulphur.  There  are 


CRATER  LAKE,  VIEW  FKOM  APPLET ATE  PEAK 


516 


What  to  See  in  America 


FISHING  FKOM  WIZARD  ISLAND 


parks,  fountains,  swimming  pools,  and  gas,  mud,  and  vapor 
bathhouses,  and  dance  pavilions.     The  place  is  apt  to  be 

excessively  hot 
in  midsummer, 
and  the  pleasant- 
est  months  for 
tourist  visitors 
are  June  and 
October. 

Near  the  sum 
mit  of  the  Cas 
cade  Mountains, 
about  sixty-five 
miles  north  of 
the  Oregon-Cali 
fornia  line,  is 
Crater  Lake,  in  the  heart  of  one  of  the  most  interesting 
mountainous  forest  regions  of  the  state.  It  occupies  the 
abyss  of  an  extinct  volcano,  six  thousand  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  is  encircled  by  about  twenty  miles  of  precipitous 
walls  that  rise  from  five  hundred  to  two  thousand  feet  above 
the  water.  At  no  point  is  there  a  breach  in  the  walls. 
They  plunge  right  down  into  the  depths  of  the  lake,  and 
though  the  lake  has  no  known  inlet  or  outlet  yet  the  water 
is  pure  and  excellent  to  drink.  The  Indians  believed  that 
here  dwelt  the  great  god  Llao,  and  only  the  conjurer  of  a 
tribe  ever  approached  the  lake.  The  god's  throne,  far  down 
in  the  blue  depths,  was  surrounded  by  his  warriors,  who 
were  giant  crawfish  able  to  reach  out  of  the  water  with  their 
enormous  claws  and  seize  venturesome  enemies  on  the  cliff 
tops.  War  broke  out  with  the  god  of  the  neighboring 
Klamath  marshes,  and  Llao  was  captured.  On  the  highest 
cliff  his  body  was  torn  into  fragments  and  cast  into  the  lake. 
Last  of  all,  his  head  was  thrown  in,  and  there  it  is,  project- 


Oregon 


517 


ing  partly  above  the  surface.  Now  it  is  called  Wizard  Island, 
and  the  cliff  where  Llao  was  torn  to  pieces  is  called  Llao 
Rock.  The  island  is  a  little  volcano  —  or  crater  within  a 
crater.  Another  island  is  called  the  Phantom  Ship.  Its 
pinnacled  crags  resemble  the  hull  and  masts  of  a  ship,  and 
in  some  conditions  of  atmosphere  on  a  warm  day  it  disap 
pears  and  reappears  in  a  very  mysterious  way.  Once  the 
vast  oval  hollow  that  the  lake  occupies  had  a  cap  as  high 
again  as  the  loftiest  cliffs  of  the  rim  above  the  sea  level. 
Within  were  volcanic  steam  and  molten  rock  that  escaped 
through  fissures  in  the  walls.  All  the  country  around 
smoked  in  ruin.  But  at  last  the  fiery  tumult  subsided,  and 
the  summit  of  Mt.  Mazama,  as  the  old  volcano  has  been 
called,  collapsed  into 
the  furnace  and  sank 
deep  into  the  earth. 
The  color  of  the  lake 
is  indigo  blue  except 
along  the  borders, 
where  it  merges  into 
various  shades  of 
green.  So  transpar 
ent  is  the  water  that 
bright  objects  can  be 
clearly  seen  at  a  depth 
of  a  hundred  feet.  It 
is  probably  the  deep 
est  and  bluest  lake  in 
the  world.  Its  lowest 
point  is  2000  feet  be 
low  the  surface.  In 
1888  trout  fry  were 

brought  to  the  lake  from  a  ranch  forty  miles  away,  but  no 
fish  were  caught  until  a  dozen  years  later.     Since  then  they 


THE  PHANTOM  SHIP,  CRATBB  LAKE 


518  What  to  See  in  America 

have  been  taken  in  ever  increasing  numbers.  The  lake  was 
discovered  in  1853  by  a  party  of  prospectors  who  called  it 
the  Lake  of  Mystery.  Sea  of  Silence  is  another  name  applied 
to  it,  and  superstitious  pioneers  have  called  it  Bottomless 
Spook  Lake.  It  is  eighty-five  miles  from  Medford  in  the 
Rogue  River  Valley.  Somewhat  aside  from  the  road,  near 
Prospect,  the  Rogue  River  rushes  beneath  a  lava  arch  for  a 
hundred  yards. 

Oregon  is  an  Indian  name  that  means  River  of  the  West. 
The  popular  name  of  Oregon  is  "  Beaver  State."  The  people 
are  nicknamed  "Webfeet"  because  the  state  has  a  rainy 
climate  which  is  best  appreciated  by  webfoot  animals. 
During  the  wet  season  —  that  is,  from  November  to  April  - 
nearly  as  much  rain  falls  on  Portland  as  on  New  York  in  a 
year.  The  rains  usually  descend  gently  without  any  accom 
paniment  of  thunder  or  destructive  winds,  and  always 
there  are  many  pleasant  or  partly  pleasant  days  in  the  rainy 
season.  The  dry  bright  summers  are  favorable  for  outdoor 
excursions.  In  the  coast  region  the  cooling  sea  winds  make 
themselves  felt,  and  the  heat  is  seldom  torrid.  The  winters 
are  mild  and  equable,  and  freezing  weather  is  rare. 


MT.  WASHINGTON 


MT.  RAINIER  FROM  VAN  TRUMJ>  PARK 


Washington 

The  oldest  town  in  Washington  is  Vancouver  on  the  banks 
of  the  Columbia  north  of  Portland.  It  started  as  a  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  post  for  fur  barter,  and  served  a  long  time 
as  a  mart  for  grain  and  a  refuge  for  travelers  from  beyond 
the  mountains  and  those  who  arrived  by  sea.  Its  first 
dwellings  and  warehouses  were  palisaded  with  spruce  planks 
as  high  as  the  eaves  to  ward  off  Indian  assaults.  The  Factor 
in  charge  bargained  with  trappers,  dispensed  medicine  to 
ailing  natives,  and  listened  to  the  tales  of  the  shipwrecked 
and  the  waylaid,  and  assisted  them  with  supplies.  The  first 
school  in  the  Northwest  was  established  at  Vancouver,  the 
first  sermon  was  preached  within  its  stockade,  the  first 
shipments  of  wheat  and  flour  across  the  Pacific  were  made 

519 


520 


What  to  See  in  America 


from  its  granaries.  It  has  been  a  United  States  military 
post  since  1860,  and  a  garrison  of  1400  regulars  is  maintained 
at  its  barracks.  The  north  and  south  banks  of  the  Columbia 
are  united  here  by  the  largest  double-track  railway  bridge 
in  the  world,  and  by  a  bridge  for  foot  passengers  and  vehicles. 
Up  the  river,  at  the  Cascades,  is  a  blockhouse,  which  is  a 
memorial  of  pioneer  days  and  of  Sheridan's  first  battle  in 
March,  1856.  The  Indians  had  attacked  the  whites  in  the 
vicinity,  massacred  some,  and  besieged  others  in  the  block 
house.  Sheridan,  with  a  few  government  troops  that  were 
in  the  valley,  came  to  the  relief  of  the  besieged,  defeated  the 
Indians,  and  captured  the  ringleaders. 

British  fur  traders  established  themselves  in  181.8  at  the 
junction  of  the  Walla  Walla  and  Columbia  Rivers  in  what  is 
now  the  southeastern  corner  of  Washington,  and  presently 

built  there  a  fort  bear 
ing  the  name  of  the 
former  stream — a  name 
which  means  Rushing 
Waters.  In  1836  a 
party  of  missionaries, 
which  included  Dr. 
Marcus  Whitman  and 
his  bride,  came  thither 
to  labor  among  the 
Indians.  They  settled 
twenty-five  miles  east 
of  the  fort  and  six 
miles  west  of  the  pres 
ent  flourishing  city  of 
Walla  Walla.  Mrs. 
Whitman  and  the  wife 
of  a  companion  mis- 
A  PRIMITIVE  BRIDGE  IN  SKAGIT  COUNTY  Sionary  were  the  first 


Washington 


521 


white  women  to  come 
west  over  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  Mrs. 
Whitman  became  the 
mother  of  the  first  Am 
erican  baby  born  in  the 
Northwest.  In  the  fall 
of  1842  Dr.  Whitman 
concluded  to  return  East 
that  he  might  consult  the 
American  Board  of  For 
eign  Missions,  which  he 
served,  and  to  apprise 
the  government  of  the 
advantages  to  be  gained 
by  colonizing  the  Oregon 
country.  He  set  forth 
in  October  to  cross  the 
mountains,  whose  passes 
were  already  choked 
with  snow,  carrying  only  such  equipment  as  could  be  strapped 
on  the  back  of  his  horse.  A  friend  accompanied  him  as  far  as 
Colorado.  The  rest  of  the  journey  to  Boston  and  Washington 
he  made  alone,  most  of  it  in  the  saddle  and  during  the  cold 
stormy  months  of  winter.  His  courage  in  crossing  the 
continent  under  such  conditions  made  a  favorable  impression 
and  attracted  attention  in  the  newspapers,  and  an  interview 
was  accorded  him  by  the  Secretary  of  War.  His  influence 
was  a  distinct  aid  in  the  enterprise  of  colonizing  the  new 
region.  The  year  1843  saw  the  migration  of  a  thousand 
pioneers  to  the  Northwest,  and  this  had  a  decisive  effect 
on  the  ultimate  nationality  of  that  section. 

Dr.  Whitman  renewed  his  work  among  the  Indians,  but 
about  this  time  they  began  to  suffer  from  a  long-continued 


CARTER  FALLS,  PARADISE  RIVER 


522 


What  to  See  in  America 


plague  of  measles. 
Evil  hints  were  circu 
lated  that  the  medicine 
man  of  the  missionaries 
was  responsible  for  the 
epidemic.  A  half-breed 
Canadian  who  was  a 
leader  in  fomenting 
trouble  received  from 
some  distant  chief  the 
gift  of  what  was  known 
as  the  "  Charmed  Tom 
ahawk,"  which  was  re 
puted  to  bring  victory 
and  good  fortune  to 
those  who  used  it.  On 
the  morning  of  Nov 
ember  29,  1847,  the 
half-breed  stole  silently 
into  Dr.  Whitman's  office,  where  the  missionary  sat  at  his 
desk,  and  with  one  blow  of  the  Charmed  Tomahawk  crushed 
in  his  victim's  skull.  A  general  massacre  followed,  and  few 
of  the  seventy  persons  at  the  mission  escaped  either  death 
or  capture.  When  news  of  what  had  happened  reached  Fort 
Vancouver,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant,  the  Chief 
Factor  of  the  Fur  Company  started  promptly  for  Walla 
Walla  with  twenty  picked  men,  boats,  and  provisions.  They 
found  the  mission  houses  wrecked,  the  mill  burned,  and  the 
bodies  of  eleven  men  and  one  boy  besides  the  bodies  of  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Whitman.  These  bodies  were  all  buried  together 
in  what  has  ever  since  been  called  the  "Great  Grave."  The 
captives  were  recovered  except  three  delicate  children  who 
perished  from  exposure,  and  the  Indians  received  a  ransom 
of  blankets,  powder,  lead,  and  other  articles  that  they  de- 


©  A.  H.  Barms 
PINNACLE  PEAK  OF  TATOOSH  RANGE 


Washington 


523 


manded  to  the  value  of  five  hundred  dollars.  Later  five  of 
the  leaders  in  the  massacre  were  arrested,  and  they  were 
hanged  at  Oregon  City.  The  Charmed  Tomahawk  is  now 
to  be  seen  among  the  treasured  relics  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer 
Association  in  Portland. 

An  American  Fort  Walla  Walla  was  raised  on  the  banks  of 
Mill  Creek  in  1856,  and  there  the  city  of  to-day  gradually 
developed.  The  old  fort  still  occupies  an  honored  place  in 
the  center  of  the  city.  Few  strangers  leave  the  valley  with 
out  driving  six  miles  to  the  hillock  on  which  stands  a  monu 
ment  to  the  massacred  missionaries  and  settlers  whose  bones 
are  entombed  at  its  base. 

On  the  Spokane  River,  not  far  from  its  confluence  with  the 
Columbia,  the  Northwest  Fur  Company  built  a  post  about 
1810.  From  there  adventurous  voyageurs  went  forth 
through  the  solitudes,  pausing  to  trade  at  the  Indian  villages, 
taking  red  women  cheerfully  in  marriage,  and  as  cheerfully 
deserting  them  when  convenient.  But  the  fur  post  was  a 
thing  of  the  past  when,  in  1872,  three  millers  set  up  sawing 


SMELT  FISHING  ox  COWLITZ  RIVER 


524 


What  to  See  in  America 


FALLS  IN  RIVER  AT  SPOKANE 

machinery  on  the  brink  of  the  twin  falls  formed  by  the 
Spokane  River  within  twenty  miles  of  the  Idaho  line. 
Eight  years  later  there  were  fifty  houses  on  the  south  side 
of  the  river.  Transportation  across  the  stream  was  by  a 
rope  ferry  and  two  canoes.  In  1881  the  first  locomotive 
rumbled  into  the  settlement.  Thither  came  that  year  the 
first  lawyer,  and  four  days  after  his  arrival  he  had  drafted  a 
charter  for  the  city  and  been  chosen  Spokane's  attorney. 
The  place  had  2000  inhabitants  in  1885,  when  three 
prospectors  with  a  donkey  camped  just  over  the  Idaho 
boundary,  one  afternoon,  in  a  desolate  canyon  of  the  Cceur 
d'Alene  Mountains.  Their  provisions  were  nearly  ex 
hausted,  and  they  decided  to  abandon  their  search  for  pre 
cious  metals  in  those  gloomy  and  rocky  solitudes.  Toward 
sundown  the  donkey  got  loose  from  its  tether,  and  they  found 
it  gazing  across  the  ravine  at  a  gleam  of  the  setting  sun 
reflected  from  a  series  of  ore  seams.  The  creature  had  dis 
covered  the  greatest  deposit  of  galena  on  the  globe.  The 
whole  mountain  was  a  lead  mine.  Within  an  hour  after  the 
arrival  of  the  sensational  news  at  Spokane,  that  city's 
remarkable  boom  began.  Prospectors,  engineers,  and  capi 
talists  from  the  four  corners  of  the  republic  hurried  thither. 
Miners  were  found  on  every  mountain  side  for  three  hundred 
miles  north  and  south,  and  each  fresh  discovery  hastened 


Washington 


525 


Spokane's  growth  and  quickened  the  fever  of  its  speculation. 
The  cascades  that  founded  the  city  are  parted  in  midstream 
in  the  heart  of 

the  business  sec-  I 

tion  by  a  mass 
of  rough  rock. 
There  the  river 
plunges  over 
ledges  two  hun 
dred  feet  wide 
and  seventy  feet 
high.  These  are 
Workaday  falls 

that  crush  wheat,  LOG  HOUSE  NEAR  CANADIAN  LINE 

turn  lathes,  run 

railroads,  and  operate  mines.  The  cataract  is  spanned  by 
a  bridge  with  a  central  arch  two  hundred  and  eighty-one 
feet  long.  Only  one  concrete  span  in  the  world  is  longer. 

In  seasons  of 
drought  there  is 
scarcely  a  trickle 
where  ordinarily 
the  river  leaps 
and  boils  in  its 
mad  rush  over 
the  jagged  rocks. 
Spokane  is  the 
metropolis  of 
that  tremen 
dously  rich  ter- 
HAKVESTING  WHBAT,  "INLAND  EMPIBE"  ritory  described 

as    the    "  Inland 

Empire,"  which  embraces  eastern  Washington,  northern 
Idaho,  and  a  part  of  Montana. 


526 


What  to  See  in  America 


Eastward  from  Spokane  runs  the  "Apple  Way,"  a  paved 
straight  road  through  a  park  of  orchards  whose  trees  are 
computed  by  the  hundred  thousand.  Westward  is  the  Big 
Bend  Wheat  Region,  where  you  may  see  in  harvest  time  a 
machine  called  a  "header,"  drawn  by  twenty,  thirty,  or  even 
more  horses,  and  which  cuts,  threshes,  and  cleans  the 
wheat,  and  packs  it  in  sacks.  Dry  farming  has  made 
productive  much  formerly  almost  worthless  land,  and  irri 
gation  has  reclaimed  enormous  tracts.  The  Yakima  Valley 
in  the  southern  central  part  of  the  state  is  one  of  the  largest 
irrigated  areas  in  the  West. 

Probably  no  part  of  Washington  appeals  to  the  traveler 
quite  so  forcibly  as  the  Puget  Sound  country.  The  Sound 
itself  is  a  magnificent  waterway  with  a  shore  line  of  1800 
miles.  The  rapidity  with  which  some  of  the  places  bordering 
on  it  have  developed  into  affluent  modern  cities  is  amazing. 

In  1845  the  first  perma 
nent  American  settlement 
was  established  at  Turn- 
water  near  Olympia  at 
the  head  of  the  Sound. 
Rude  mills  were  built  for 
grinding  grain  and  sawing 
lumber.  A  hamlet  soon 
came  into  being  at  Olym 
pia,  now  the  capital,  and 
known  as  the  "Pearl  of 
Puget  Sound."  When  the 
first  governor  of  the  Ter 
ritory  arrived  there,  in 
1853,  he  found  it  a  "rain- 
drenched  mudhole."  The 
house  he  occupied  has 
SNOQUALMIE  FALLS  been  preserved.  It  was 


Washington 


527 


originally  proposed  that  the  territory  should  be  called  Colum 
bia,  and  when   the  name  of  the  country's  first  President 
found  more  favor  in  Congress  the  unsuccessful  suggestion 
was  made  that  this  name  should  have  the  form  of  Washing- 
tonia  to  avoid  confusion  with  the  nation's  capital.     Olympia 
is  the  shipping  point  of  many  hundred  thousand  pounds 
of    oysters,    clams,    and    ^ 
shrimps    every    year.    , 
Large   vessels   can    come 
up  the  inlet   to  it  from 
Puget  Sound  at  high  tide, 
but  at  low   tide   a   long 
mud    flat    is    uncovered, 
and  even  small  boats  can 
not  reach  the  wharf. 

Seattle,  "queen  of  a 
thousand  waterways," 
and  the  largest  of  Wash 
ington  cities,  is  perched 
on  a  ridge  east  of  the 
Sound  where  there  is  a 
wonderfully  large  and 
deep  harbor  at  its  very 
door.  The  outer  pillars 
of  the  crescent  harbor,  West  Point  and  Alki  Point,  are  five 
miles  apart.  At  the  latter  place  a  trading  post  was  estab 
lished  in  1851  by  a  handful  of  settlers  who  had  made  an 
overland  journey  of  one  hundred  and  eight  days  from  Illinois 
to  Portland  and  a  coast  voyage  north  from  Astoria.  They 
called  their  settlement  New  York.  Alki  is  an  Indian  word 
which  means  "after  a  while,"  and  these  two  names  are  sig 
nificant  in  that  the  city  of  the  present  hopes,  after  a  while, 
to  be  the  New  York  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  Chief  Se-alth  with 
some  of  his  tribe  camped  and  fished  at  Alki  in  1852.  He 


MT.  RAINIER,  A  CREVASSE 


528  What  to  See  in  America 

gained  the  respect  of  the  whites  by  his  intelligence  and 
sterling  character,  and  they  bestowed  his  name,  slightly 
altered,  on  the  infant  community  by  the  bay  shore,  and  dis 
carded  that  of  the  Eastern  city.  The  ridge  Seattle  occupied 
was  originally  so  precipitous  in  places  as  to  be  a  serious 
handicap  for  a  great  commercial  metropolis,  but  the  steep 
heights  have  been  leveled  off  by  a  method  used  in  hydraulic 
mining  —  that  is,  they  have  been  washed  away  by  power 
ful  jets  of  water,  and  the  surplus  earth  transferred  to  give 
foothold  for  docks  and  mills  at  the  borders  of  the  bay.  The 
harbor  has  been  connected  by  a  ship  canal  with  Lake 
Washington  which  bounds  the  city  on  the  east.  This  greatly 
increases  the  port  facilities,  and  the  fresh  water  of  the  lake 
affords  an  efficient  means  of  freeing  ocean-going  vessels  of 
barnacles.  The  lake  is  about  twenty  miles  long  and  two  to 
five  broad.  At  the  docks  are  ships  that  sail  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  and  merchandise  of  uncounted  kinds  loading  and 
unloading,  seafaring  men  of  many  nationalities,  and  shops 
that  sell  tackle  and  cordage,  anchors,  and  seines.  The  city 
has  many  buildings  from  ten  to  forty-two  stories  high,  and 
on  the  topmost  of  its  mounting  terraces  stands  a  stately 
cathedral.  It  is  the  cash  box  of  Alaska,  and  "millionaires 
are  as  plentiful  as  briers  in  a  bramble."  In  the  heart  of  the 
city  is  a  little  park  known  as  Pioneer  Place,  a  striking  fea 
ture  of  which  is  a  totem  pole  sixty  feet  high  from  an  Alaskan 
island.  This  souvenir  is  said  to  have  been  brought  away 
by  loyal  citizens  of  Seattle  in  the  absence  of  the  chief  to 
whom  it  belonged.  It  is  a  curious  symbolic  carved  tree 
trunk  with  a  raven  at  the  top  carrying  off  the  moon.  The 
raven's  feet  rest  on  a  woman  and  frog,  and  they  in  turn 
crouch  on  the  mink,  the  whale,  and  finally  the  thunderbird* 
Various  snow-capped  mountains  are  within  sight  of  the  city, 
but  many  persons  who  visit  Seattle  fail  to  see  them  because 
the  mists  obscure  them  much  of  the  time.  You  can  make 


Washington 


529 


MT.  RAINIER  AND  MYRTLE  FALLS 


Washington  531 

an  infinitude  of  excursions  from  here  on  both  land  and  water 
to  dominant  peaks  and  fruitful  valleys,  to  highland  lakes  and 
streams,  and  to  the  nooks  of  the  Sound  and  its  islands.  One 
of  the  sights  that  should  not  be  missed,  when  water  flows 
plentifully  in  the  spring  and  early  summer,  is  the  Snoqualmie 
Falls  among  the  foothills  of  the  Cascade  Mountains  twenty- 
five  miles  east  of  the  city.  Here  the  Snoqualmie  River 
makes  a  plunge  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet,  and  the 
great  power  of  the  torrent  is  evidenced  by  the  spray  which  is 
flung  back  half  way  up  the  cliff. 

Tacoma,  twenty  miles  south  of  Seattle,  may  be  regarded 
as  the  latter's  twin  city.  It  has  much  the  same  advantages 
as  a  port  and  commercial  center,  and  has  developed  with 
similar  rapidity.  In  1870  it  had  a  population  of  seventy- 
three  persons.  One  interesting  feature  is  a  smelter  chimney 
which  reaches  the  unparalleled  height  of  five  hundred  and 
seventy-two  feet.  This  is  built  of  brick,  and  the  walls  are 
five  feet  thick  at  the  base  and  thirteen  inches  thick  at  the 
top.  The  inside  diameter  at  the  base  is  forty  feet  and  at  the 
top  twenty-five  feet.  Its  great  height  is  for  the  purpose  of 
conveying  the  poisonous  smelting  fumes  to  an  altitude  where 
the  winds  will  dissipate  them,  so  that  near-by  vegetation 
will  not  suffer.  Many  good  roads  lead  to  the  "  natural 
parks"  that  begin  six  miles  south  of  the  city.  These  parks 
are  carpeted  with  flowers  and  contain  numerous  lakes. 

About  forty  miles  southeast  is  Mt.  Rainier,  which  soars 
up  14,408  feet,  and  is  the  loftiest  height  in  the  state.  Its 
silver  summit  can  be  seen  far  at  sea  and  helps  home-bound 
sailors  to  correct  their  courses.  One  of  the  mountain's  later 
convulsions  blew  off  a  pointed  cap  which  had  probably 
added  2000  feet  to  Rainier's  present  height.  Even  as 
things  are  the  mountain  is  more  impressive  than  most 
others  of  similar  altitude  because  it  rises  from  a  plain  that 
is  only  slightly  above  the  sea  level.  Rainier  National  Park 


532 


What  to  See  in  America 


is  eighteen  miles  square,  and  only  includes  Mt.  Rainier  terri 
tory;  yet  an  extensive  portion  of  the  mighty  mountain  is 
outside  the  boundaries.  Although  the  mountain  is  about  the 
same  height  as  Pikes  Peak  in  Colorado  or  Mt.  Whitney  in 
California,  it  rises  from  the  lowlands  so  that  it  can  be  seen 
at  close  range  unhidden  by  other  heights  and  stands  out  in 
all  its  massive  grandeur  in  unrivaled  beauty.  Its  original 
Indian  name,  Tacoma,  means  "Big  Snow  Mountain."  The 
first  white  men  reached  its  top  in  August,  1870.  Since  that 
time  ascents  have  been  numerous.  In  1890  the  first  woman 

went  to  the  top.  The 
lower  slopes  are  dark 
with  dense  conifer 
ous  forests,  while 
between  the  limits 
of  tree  growth  and 
the  ragged  lower 
edge  of  the  ice  fields 
is  a  magnificent  belt 
of  wild  flowers  a  mile 
or  two  wide.  The 
flowers  are  so  closely 
planted  and  so  luxu 
rious  that  it  seems 
as  if  Nature  were 
trying  to  see  how 
many  of  her  darlings 
she  could  get  to 
gether  in  one  moun 
tain  wreath.  A  trail 
which  penetrates 
fifty  miles  of  unex 
celled  beauty  and 
COMET  FALLS,  MT,  RAINIER  splendor  circles  the 


Washington 


533 


MT.  ADAMS 

a  neighboring  snow  mass.  These 
caverns  have  proved  a  blessing 
to  more  than  one  party  which  has 
been  compelled  to  remain  over 
night  on  the  summit.  The  moun 
tain  is  known  to  have  been 
active  at  intervals  during  the  last 
century,  and  there  was  a  slight 
eruption  as  recently  as  1870.  In 
dian  legends  mention  a  great 
cataclysmal  outburst  at  an  earlier 
period.  The  total  area  of  Rai 
nier 's  glaciers  is  no  less  than  forty- 
five  square  miles,  an  expanse  of 
ice  far  exceeding  that  of  any 
other  single  peak  in  the  United 


peak  near  the  timber 
line,  which  is  reached  at 
about  the  height  of  6500 
feet.  The  mountain  has 
the  graceful  lines  which 
proclaim  its  volcanic  ori 
gin.  Near  the  summit, 
which  is  three  miles 
across,  the  internal  heat 
is  still  in  evidence  and 
suffices  to  keep  some  of 
the  ridges  bare  of  snow 
most  of  the  year.  It  is 
intense  enough  in  one 
place  to  produce  numer 
ous  steam  jets  which 
have  melted  great  cav 
erns  under  the  edges  of 


A  FOREST  FIRE 


534 


What  to  See  in  America 


Photo  by  Gifford  and  Prentiss 
AN  EIGHT-FOOT  SPRUCE 


States.    From  the 
snow-covered  sum 
mit    twenty-eight 
rivers    of    ice    pour 
slowly    down    the 
gashed  slopes,  reach 
ing  into  the  rich  gar 
dens  of  wild  flowers 
and    splendid    ever 
green  forests  like  the 
tentacles  of  a  huge 
octopus.      Many  of 
the     individual     ice 
streams  are  between  four  and  six  miles  long  and  rival  in 
magnitude  and  charm  the  glaciers  of  the  Alps.     The  occa 
sional  thunder  of   avalanches  may  be  heard.     The  lower 
portion  of  the  glaciers  is  apt  to  be  very  dirty,  but  the  ice 
and  snow  grow  cleaner  as  you  ascend,  until,  at  the  source 
of  the  glaciers,  they  could  hardly  be  purer.     Several  species 
of  insects  are  regular  inhabitants  of  the  glaciers.     There 
are  the  springtails,  for  instance,  which  are  so  minute  that 
_  ______  in  spite  of  their  dark 

color  they  escape 
the  attention  of  most 
persons.  But  if  you 
look  closely  they  can 
be  seen  hopping 
about  like  miniature 
fleas,  or  wriggling 
into  the  cavities  of 
the  snow.  They 
seem  to  be  incom- 
moded  very  little  if 
A  TRAIN  LOADED  WITH  SPRUCE  Loos  their  acrobatic  leaps 


Washington 


535 


cause  them  to  alight  in  a  puddle  or  rill,  for  they  are  thickly 
clad  with  furry  scales  that  prevent  them  from  getting  wet. 
On  the  lower  part  of  the  glaciers  slender  dark  brown  worms 
about  an  inch  long  are  plentiful.  Millions  of  them  may  be 
seen  on  favorable  days  in  July  and  August,  writhing  on  the 
surface  of  the  ice,  where  they  evidently  breed.  Their  food 
is  organic  matter  blown  on  the  glacier  in  the  form  of  dust. 
So  essential  to  their  existence  is  the  chill  of  the  ice  that 
when  the  midday  sun 
is  particularly  hot, 
they  enter  the  ice 
several  inches  and 
only  reappear  late  in 
the  afternoon.  Often 
there  are  seen  on  the 
snow  mysterious 
patches  of  a  pink  or 
light  rose  color,  com 
monly  spoken  of  as 
"red  snow."  Really 
each  patch  represents 
a  colony  of  billions 

of  microscopic  plants.  In  the  thin  pure  air  of  these  high 
altitudes  the  sun  heat  is  astonishingly  intense,  as  mountain 
climbers  often  learn  to  their  sorrow  by  neglecting  to  take 
the  customary  precaution  of  blacking  their  faces  before  mak 
ing  the  ascent.  In  a  few  hours  the  skin  begins  to  blister 
painfully.  At  the  foot  of  the  mountain  much  of  the  sun 
heat  is  absorbed  by  the  dust  and  vapor  in  the  lower  atmos 
phere.  Rainier  is  so  accessible  that  you  can  make  a  brief 
visit  to  it  in  a  single  day.  Each  year  35,000  persons  go  to 
the  mountain. 

About  fifty  miles  south  of  Rainier  are  two  other  great 
volcanic  heights,  Mt.  St.  Helens  and  Mt.  Adams.    Climbing 


A  SNOHOMISH  COUNTY  SAWMILL 


536 


What  to  See  in  America 


to  the  latter 's  12,000  foot  summit  presents  fewer  difficulties 
than  most  of  its  companion  heights  of  the  Northwest.  Like 
Rainier,  its  cauldron  has  not  entirely  cooled,  as  is  shown  by 
the  steam  that  issues  from  the  depression  at  the  top  of  its  cone. 
Snohomish  County,  that  borders  Puget  Sound  well  to  the 
north,  is  particularly  notable  for  its  extensive  and  heavy 

forests.  These  are  im 
measurably  rich  in  fir, 
cedar,  spruce,  and  hem 
lock,  and  their  enor 
mous  value  is  greatly 
enhanced  by  their  ac 
cessibility.  The  most 
common  and  valuable 
of  the  trees  is  the 
Douglas  fir.  It  grows 
perfectly  erect  until  it 
ends  in  a  pyramidal 
crown  two  hundred 
feet  or  more  above  the 
ground.  Some  of  the 
largest  are  two  hundred 
and  seventy  feet  high 
and  reach  the  enormous 
proportions  of  eight, 
ten,  and  even  twelve 
feet  in  diameter.  A  single  one  may  produce  timber  enough 
to  build  a  mansion.  It  is  capable  of  living  four  or  five 
hundred  years.  Of  great  importance  also  is  the  red  cedar, 
which  sometimes  attains  a  height  of  two  hundred  feet  and 
a  diameter  of  over  twenty  feet.  Cedars  cut  in  the  state  of 
Washington  yield  two  thirds  of  all  shingles  produced  in  the 
United  States. 

Washington  is  called  the  "Evergreen  State,"  so  prevalent 


TERRACE  FALLS,  CHELAN  NATIONAL 
FOREST 


Washington 


.537 


THE  CHINAMAN,  Lu 


is  evergreen  woodland. 
Steam  has  made  of  log 
ging  in  its  forests  a  busi 
ness  which  devastates 
them  with  incredible 
speed  and  system.  When 
you  get  to  where  a  tract 
has  been  cut  over,  the 
refuse  might  well  mark 
the  trail  of  a  cyclone. 
But  the  "culls''  left 

standing  as  not  worth  felling  would  make  the  biggest  of 
the  timber  logs  in  some  of  the  Maine  drives  look  like  kin 
dlings.  In  the  virgin  forest  the  straight  clean  trunks  of 
standing  timber  are  like  the  columns  of  a  wonderful  cathe 
dral.  Many  of  them  have  been  growing  since  the  time 
when  Columbus  found  this  continent  of  ours  —  and  they  are 
all  doomed  to  be  destroyed  by  puny  bustling  swearing  men 
with  saws  and  axes.  When  the  long  rains  of  autumn  fall, 

^^^^    the   men   work  in   a  dense  and 

damp  undergrowth  in  mud  and 
slime  up  to  their  knees  for 
months.  It  is  slippery,  trying 
work.  The  preliminary  labor  of 
felling  a  tree  is  done  with  axes, 
and  then  the  sawyers  finish.  A 
falling  tree  fills  the  air  with  torn 
branches  and  fragments  of  the 
smaller  trees  that  are  in  its 
shattering  path,  and  smites  the 
ground  with  the  noise  of  thunder, 
and  with  a  force  that  makes  the 
earth  tremble.  Spur  tracks  run 

WASHINGTON  ROCK,  WALDRON  . 

ISLAND  on  into  the  woods,  and  a  donkey 


- 


538  What  to  See  in  America 

engine  hauls  in  the  logs.  Snohomish  County  alone  has 
forty  sawmills  and  one  hundred  shingle  mills,  and  the  char 
acteristic  perfume  of  Everett,  its  commercial  center,  is  that 
of  newly  sawn  lumber. 

A  hundred  miles  directly  east  of  Everett  is  that  gem  of 
mountain  lakes,  Chelan,  a  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  fifty 
miles  long,  and  one  mile  narrow.  Its  outlet  is  a  contorted 
four-mile  gorge  that  connects  it  with  the  Columbia.  At  the 
lower  end  are  comfortable  hotels ;  and  sight-seers  are  con 
veyed  the  entire  length  of  the  azure  highway  by  several 
steamers.  It  is  a  rift  of  blue  in  a  glacial  abyss  of  great 
depth  amid  ranks  of  snowy  peaks.  There  is  not  such  an 
other  furrow  on  the  face  of  the  western  hemisphere.  For 
immensity  and  chaotic  sublimity  it  is  unsurpassed. 

Bellingham  is  the  point  of  departure  for  Mt.  Baker,  thirty 
miles  to  the  east.  The  first  explorers  of  this  great  peak, 
11,000  feet  high,  visited  it  in  1869.  On  the  southeast  side 
is  an  ice  funnel  two  hundred  feet  long  through  which  is 
expelled  in  sulphurous  vapor  the  dying  breath  of  the  volcano 
that  lies  within  the  cone.  The  summit  of  the  mountain  is 
a  level  of  thirty-five  acres.  Seven  glaciers  have  their  start 
there,  and  from  the  lower  end  of  each  an  embryo  river  flows 
away,  to  leap  down  the  cliffs  in  a  tumult  of  white  spray. 

Between  Bellingham  and  the  large  island  of  Vancouver  is  a 
little  group  of  islands  concerning  the  ownership  of  which  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  once  nearly  came  to  blows. 
In  the  boundary  settlement  of  1846  it  was  not  entirely  clear 
whether  the  line  ran  east  or  west  of  these  islands,  and  there 
ensued  long-drawn-out  arguments  and  parleys.  On  one 
occasion,  when  a  British  pig  which  invaded  an  American's 
potato  patch  was  shot,  hostilities  ensued  that  led  to  the  verge 
of  war.  Finally,  in  1872,  with  the  German  emperor  as 
arbitrator,  the  matter  was  settled  in  favor  of  the  United 
States. 


Washington 


539 


The  thousands  of  miles  of  varied  waterways  of  Puget 
Sound  and  adjacent  regions  offer  the  yachtsman  a  wide 
choice,  with  forest-clad  mountain  slopes  and  snow-capped 
ranges  always  in  view,  and  in  a  climate  that  is  equable  to  a 
rare  degree.  There  is  usually  just  enough  of  fresh  in  the  sea 
to  give  it  froth,  and  everywhere  are  coves,  bays,  islands,  and 
sheltering  spits  to  which  you  can  quickly  run  if  there  is  need. 

The  somewhat  extensive  peninsula  west  of  Puget  Sound  is 
dominated  by  the  precipitous  and  heavily  snow-capped 
Olympic  Moun 
tains.  The  lower 
slopes  of  these 
heights  are  heav 
ily  forested  with 
gigantic  trees, 
many  of  which 
are  luxuriantly 
draped  and 
bearded  with 
moss.  The  open 
ness  which  char 
acterizes  the 
Sierra  and  Rocky 
Mountain  forests  is  nere  lacking,  and  the  undergrowth  is  a 
gloomy  jungle  of  vines,  bushes,  huge  ferns,  and  wild  flowers. 
Great  tree  trunks  lie  scattered  about.  Some  fell  centuries 
ago  and  are  water-soaked  and  half  rotten.  Here  and  there 
a  living  tree  scores  of  years  old  is  standing  on  a  fallen  one. 
It  is  an  extremely  difficult  region  to  penetrate.  The  explorer 
has  to  chop  his  way  as  he  advances,  and  until  recent  years 
even  the  trappers  were  content  to  work  around  its  outskirts, 
and  the  prospectors  too  passed  it  by.  The  timber  line  is  at 
an  altitude  of  5500  feet.  It  is  kept  low  by  the  excessive  snow 
fall.  Mt.  Olympus,  8250  feet  high,  is  the  monarch  of  the 


ROAD  IN  OLYMPIC  FOREST 


540  What  to  See  in  America 

range.  The  climate,  tempered  by  the  warm  sea,  is  mild. 
Probably  no  other  region  in  the  United  States  has  a  heavier 
rainfall  and  snowfall.  From  sixty  to  one  hundred  feet  of  snow 
is  deposited  over  it  each  winter.  The  precipitation  is  ex 
cessive  all  through  the  year,  except  in  July  and  August. 
Rain  and  the  melting  ice  and  snow  form  numerous  streams 
which  descend  in  roaring  waterfalls  and  wild  cascades. 
Thousands  of  acres  are  crowded  with  tall  trees  that  will 
average  five  feet  in  diameter  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  in 
height.  Among  the  wild  creatures  that  haunt  this  wilderness 
are  elk,  bear,  deer,  wolf,  lynx,  otter,  and  beaver,  and  it  is  a 
resort  of  the  bald  eagle.  The  streams  are  crowded  with  trout. 
Sixty  miles  west  by  railroad  from  Olympia  is  the  wide  bay 
of  Grays  Harbor,  an  inreach  of  the  Pacific.  Here  are  the 
two  ports  of  Aberdeen  and  Hoquiam,  largely  engaged  in 
lumber  manufacture,  shipbuilding,  and  fish  export.  At  the 
latter  place  an  Indian,  Schickulash  Pete,  died  in  1916  at 
the  age  of  one  hundred  and  ten.  This  grizzled  veteran  of 
tribal  wars  that  took  place  seventy-five  years  earlier  was 
one  of  a  canoe  party  which  came  up  the  coast  from  the 
Columbia  River  to  attack  the  Grays  Harbor  Indians.  During 
the  battle  which  ensued  he  with  many  others  was  taken 
captive  and  held  in  slavery  until  set  free  about  fifteen  years 
later  through  the  intervention  of  the  whites.  A  wonderful 
mountain  playground  has  been  opened  up  north  of  Hoquiam 
by  the  completion  of  a  forty-five-mile  motor  highway  which 
ends  at  Lake  Quiniault.  The  lake  is  a  beautiful  body  of  water 
hemmed  in  on  three  sides  by  the  Olympics.  The  last  half 
of  the  ride  is  through  a  sunless  concourse  of  superb  trees. 
The  lake's  outlet  is  a  riotous  stream  which,  below  the 
Indian  village  of  Taholah,  puts  to  test  the  skill  of  the  native 
canoeists.  Venturous  tourists,  who  wish  to  pay  the  price, 
can  have  the  exhilaration  of  being  conveyed  in  dugouts  over 
a  six-hour  race  course  of  riffles  and  "white  water"  to  the 


Washington  541 

rocky  beach  bordering  the  Pacific  above  Point  Grenville. 
On  the  south  side  of  Grays  Harbor  is  Bay  City,  where  the 
American  Pacific  Whaling  Company  tows  in  whales  —  hump 
backs,  finbacks,  sulphur  bottoms,  and  sperms.  The  last 
are  rarest  and  most  valuable.  One  of  average  size  is  worth 
$3000.  The  modern  method  of  killing  whales  is  by  means  of 
harpoons  shot  from  guns  in  the  bow  of  small  steamers.  The 
harpoon  ejects  a  bomb  containing  prussic  acid,  which,  in 
less  than  a  minute,  paralyzes  the  monster.  When  the  bones 
and  oil  have  been  removed  at  the  shore  factory  the  carcasses 
are  made  into  fertilizer  and  animal  meal. 

Above  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  is  North  Beach,  a  long 
lancet  of  land  that  has  been  deposited  by  the  great  river. 
Straight  away  for  twenty-five  miles  the  surf  pounds  on  the 
gentle  slope  of  sands,  which  is  thronged  from  June  to  October 
with  bathers,  motorists,  clam  diggers,  and  fishermen. 

Washington  has  a  long  growing  season,  and  a  short  mild 
winter,  which  in  the  western  part  is  the  "rainy  season." 
That  part  of  the  state  which  lies  east  of  the  Cascade  Moun 
tains  is  semiarid.  There  are  no  blizzards  nor  intense  cold 
waves.  Trees  retain  their  green  foliage  the  year  round,  and 
in  most  parts  there  is  usually  some  pasture  available  every 
month.  In  certain  sections  many  varieties  of  flowers  will  be 
found  blooming  outdoors  in  January. 


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